SubscribeStar Saturday: Live Remote Learning Rehearsal Day 2

Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive.  To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.  For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.

Yesterday my school ran its second Live Remote Learning Rehearsal Day.  We have actually done really well with keeping cases low—almost non-existent.  Nevertheless, our administration is taking a proactive approach by testing out remote learning in various scenarios in the event we need to go fully online.

Overall, the day seemed to go smoothly, at least on my end.  The difference this time was that instead of faculty teaching from school with students at home, faculty were also allowed to stay home.  That made the experience much more like our transition to distance learning back in March.

I’m enjoying some time with my niece and nephews this morning, so the rest of this post will be completed a bit later today.  Thank you, subscribers, once again for your patience.

To read the rest of this post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more.

Friday Morning Reading: The Story of One Hundred Great Composers

Today my school is doing its second Live Remote Learning Rehearsal days.  These are days for us to test out remote learning in the event The Virus necessitates returning to distance learning full-timeLast time teachers tuned in from home while teachers were on-campus.  This time, both teachers and students are able to work from home, so I’ve been enjoying a more leisurely morning.

Indeed, I just wrapped up my first morning class of the day, a section of Middle School Music.  The students in that section wrote brief, rough draft biographies of renowned composers, and after giving them feedback in-class yesterday, they presented on their composers this morning.  It was a good lesson for digital learning, as it required their active participation for the bulk of the class, and they all did quite well.

I’ve assigned composer biographies in music courses for years, but what inspired the assignment this time around was the rediscovery of a charming little book I keep on a small end table in my den:  Helen L. Kaufmann’s The Story of One Hundred Great Composers.  Published in 1943, the book is a tiny, pocket-sized digest of two-to-three-page entries—arranged chronologically—of composers from the sixteenth century forward.

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Delayed SubscribeStar Saturday Posted: Back in the Arena

This past Saturday’s SubscribeStar Saturday was delayed, but I got the latest post, “Back in the Arena: Second Lamar Town Council Special Election” posted last night.  It’s about the beginning of my second campaign for Lamar Town Council, and my strategy to overcome secret write-in campaigns this time around (basically, get more people to turn out to vote for me—not too complicated!).

It’s available now for $1 and higher subscribers.  For full details about subscriber perks, read this morning’s TBT post.

Thanks again for your support!

—TPP

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TBT: Giving Thanks (and a Sales Pitch)

We’re just one week from Thanksgiving.  I’m thankful to live in a State with enough commonsense and decency not to attempt to trample our right to gather with our loved ones on such an important day.  There may be a good bit of uncertainty about the future, but at least we can get together and enjoy some time together (and some turkey, of course).

In casting about for some TBT fodder this week, I came across this blatant sales pitch post from Thanksgiving Week 2019.  I haven’t pimped out my scribbled wares lately, and this season of generosity and giving seemed like a great time to urge everyone to dig deep and subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for a buck a month (or five, for that matter).

Last year at this time I had five subscribers and a piddling thirty-five posts.  As of the time of this writing, I have 144 posts on the page (which will hopefully be 145 by the time you read this TBT, as I owe subscribers for this past Saturday) and eight subscribers.  That includes fifty-three installments of Sunday Doodles, which only $5 subscribers get.  The rest are Saturday posts, with a few Five Dollar Friday posts tossed in for you big spenders.

I would love to get that subscriber count into double digits by Christmas.  If you’ve been hesitating for any reason, or said, “Oh, I need to do that when I have a minute,” make that minute now.  Grab your credit card and swipe that sucker (you actually have to type in the number) and make it happen!  Then you, too, can enjoy a bottomless back catalog of my portly musings.

With that, here is a very commercial, cash-grabby look back at “Giving Thanks (and a Sales Pitch)“:

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Building Community

The outcome of the 2020 election is still up in the air, but whether we’re enduring President Biden (and then—Heaven help us—President Harris) in a couple of months or still partying under President Trump‘s second term, it’s important for conservatives and traditionalists to consider what comes nextAnother four years of Trump would be an extension of our current reprieve from progressives dominating the executive, but there’s no guarantees that a Republican will hold the White House after 2024.

As such, we need to begin planning and preparing for the worst immediately.  Indeed, many Americans have already done so, and I’ve spoken with many conservatives who believe the worst is yet to come.

Aside from stockpiling and gardening—and generally moving towards greater degrees of self-sufficiency—one important aspect to consider is community building.  By that I do not mean the kind of Leftist, Obama Era pabulum in which we’re all “community organizers” mobilizing nihilistic welfare queens into a low-information progressive voting bloc.  Rather, I mean genuine community building—the formation of those multitudinous, invisible bonds that bind a people together.

Doing so may very well be the most important step Christians, conservatives, and traditionalists can take to survive for the long-term.

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Red-Pilled Bible Study

Last night I attended a men’s monthly Bible study at a church in Lamar.  My neighbors had been inviting me for a couple of months, but when that mythical third Monday would roll around, I’d always have some outstanding obligation (mainly rehearsal for the Spooktacular).  Since I’m running for Town Council again in January, I figured it would be good to feed my soul and my political ambitions simultaneously (they also brought sub sandwiches, so I was pretty well-fed holistically by the time I left).

The evening was spiritually, culturally, and politically encouraging.  These men were fired up for Jesus, our country, and Trump, in that order.  After everybody caught up a bit and after some introductions (I was the new guy at the meeting), the conversation gradually turned to politics, starting (I believe) with the necessity for a border wall, and Biden’s hare-brained pledge to tear it down.

From there, it was a free-ranging discussion, including vigorous airings of grievances; laments for the state of our nation; pledges to resist excessive government mandates; and repeated admonitions to trust in God.  Our Scripture reading was Psalm 138.  The Psalm is a reminder that God is in control, and will support us in our hour of need.  Here’s verse 7, from the New King James Version:

7Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand
Against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.

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Et tu, WordPress?

Thanks to photog for informing me about this one:  legendary conservative blog Conservative Treehouse is being deplatformed.  WordPress has given them to 2 December 2020 to find a new host.

It’s another sad casualty in the never-ending pogroms of Big Tech.  I am not a regular Conservative Treehouse reader, but it’s fairly standard, non-controversial conservative commentary.  CT was big on debunking the Russian conspiracy and Ukrainian hoaxes, and really delved deeply into the weeds of those baseless witch hunts.  It’s also been going hard to illuminate the theft of the presidential election.

But that’s enough.  In a world in which Twitter posts Orwellian “fact-check” tags to tweets about the election, any questioning of the orthodoxy is a thoughtcrime.  CT itself points to the real reason for their deplatforming:

The WordPress company is not explaining the reason for deplatforming because there is no justifiable reason for it.  At the same time, they are bold in their position. Perhaps this is the most alarming part; and everyone should pay attention. They don’t care.

Truthful assembly is now the risk.  CTH is now too big; with a site reach of 500,000 to a million unique readers each day; and with well over 200,000 subscribers; our assembly is too large, too influential, and presents a risk… we guard the flickering flame.

That’s the key—Conservative Treehouse is effective; ergo, it must be eliminated.  I’ve written far spicier posts on this blog, but I’m so small, WordPress doesn’t care (or, more likely, doesn’t notice).

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Lazy Sunday LXXXVII: Questions, Part II

We’re continuing this Sunday with more posts that pose questions.  Here’s three more for your inquisitive pleasure:

  • TBT: What is Popular Sovereignty?” (Originally posted on the old Blogspot page) – This old post came about as a response to a friend (now a full-blown progressive who won’t talk to me anymore) who preferred technocratic rule to popular rule.  It’s a (hopefully) nuanced exploration of the role of the people in government, and when certain roles should be delegated to qualified pros.
  • TBT: Third Party Opportunity?” (Originally posted on the old Blogspot page) – Back in 2016, there was a good bit of scuttlebutt about the possibility of a third-party candidate picking up support from moderate Democrats (which even then had largely ceased to exist) and Never Trump Republicans.  The Libertarian Party saw a boost in party membership, but I correctly predicted that Gary Johnson, the goofy, pot-addled nominee for the Libertarians, would not win any electoral votes.  I don’t discount third parties entirely these days—I think they could be effective at the local level—but the Republican Party seems like the natural vehicle for populist ideas, not some third-party lacking in institutional and organizational structure.
  • Reblog: Conan the Southerner?” – One of many great reads from the Abbeville Institute, this piece looked at an Abbeville Institute post, “Conan the Southerner?,” that explored the Texan roots of Conan’s creator.  Conan’s free, warlike ethos, the author claims, stems from his creator’s Southern roots.

Here’s hoping those questions answered some things for you.  More to come!

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

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Brief Saturday Update

It’s been a busy Saturday for yours portly, so today’s SubscribeStar Saturday post will go up sometime tomorrow, more likely than not.  I took my spunky little Nissan Versa Note to my younger brother’s house to change the oil, and spent the morning and early afternoon playing with my niece and nephews.  His father-in-law rolled in with a small U-Haul trailer packed with ancient, heavy furniture, so my payment for the oil change was to carry a nineteenth-century cherry wood cabinet up a flight of stairs.  Still, it’s cheaper than Jiffy Lube.

My girlfriend and I are about to head to a small get-together at a friend’s house, so she’s baking up a storm.  Now I know how photog feels when he’s hosting a party and Camera Girl prepares the goodies.

Also, the big news this weekend is that yesterday I filed to run for Lamar Town Council again.  I paid my $17.50 to run in another special election, which will be 12 January 2021.  Hopefully I won’t be blown away by a surprise, last-minute write-in campaign again.

More on that when I get the SubscribeStar Saturday post completed.  Enjoy your weekend, and have fun!

—TPP

empty gray road under white clouds

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The Joy of Hymnals II: The Cokesbury Worship Hymnal

This week I’ve been teaching and learning a great deal about George Frideric Handel, the great German composer who became, over his long life, a great British one.  In discussing Handel and other Baroque composers with my students, we also veered into the world of hymns.

Hymns were and are important in Protestant congregations as simple, memorable tunes with theologically rich texts.  Hymn melodies are often based on folk tunes or popular compositions.  In some cases, such as the lovely Christmas carolSilent Night,” the text is written first, then set to music (indeed, most hymns, being based on Scripture, evolved this way).  Sometimes the tune is written, then an enterprising poet sets the text.  Such was the case with Isaac Watts, who set his text for “Joy to the World” to a Handel melody.  And, of course, there are hymns written and composed by the same person.

In talking about hymns, I brought to my students a slender little hymnal in my small collection of them, The Cokesbury Worship Hymnal.  From what I can gather, my copy was published in or after 1966, when the copyright from 1938 was renewed.  There is a stamp on the inside front cover stating that the hymn book once belonged to Carteret Street Methodist Church, which I thought was in Charleston, but appears to be in Beaufort, South Carolina.  The hymnal includes 296 hymns, with fifty responsive readings—a good collection, but slim by the standards of a pewback hymnal.

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