Month: October 2022

Open Mic Adventures IX: Journey’s “Faithfully”

The Portly Politico10 Comments

Last Tuesday, 4 October 2022, I managed to get out to open mic night for the first time in over a month, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable experience.  This particular open mic typically hosts a small but closely-knit group of musicians, one that does not knit itself so closely as to bar outsiders.  Indeed, these dudes are super encouraging of new musicians, young and old alike, and have nursed some real talent.

Unfortunately, I’d left my two small binders of tunes at school in my haste to depart Tuesday afternoon (I had to get to the bank!), so I only had a few scant lead sheets handy.  One of them was a copy of Journey’s “Faithfully” in C major—a key that puts the upper range a bit outside of what is feasible for yours portly, but I gave it my best shot.

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Monday Morning Movie Review: Ponty’s Top Ten Best Films: #8: Halloween (1978)

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Just in time for the Halloween season, Ponty pulls out one of the all-time classics from perhaps my favorite director.  You can’t have Halloween without Halloween (1978).

I particularly love how Ponty opens his review discussing the impact of music in film.  Horror soundtracks now seem to be riddled with clichés, like sustained dissonant chords and screechy violin glissandos.  But John Carpenter and others were composing actual music that sounded creepy without resorting to silly gimmicks.  What kid doesn’t sit down at the piano this time of year and try to pick out that theme?

Well, I won’t give much more away; it’s an excellent, lovingly-crafted review.

With that, here is Ponty’s review of 1978’s Halloween:

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Lazy Sunday CLXVI: More Movies, Part XXX: Midweek Myers Movie Reviews, Part I

The Portly Politico5 Comments

At some point I’m going to dedicate a Lazy Sunday to something less lazy than looking back at movie review, but The Portly Politico is rapidly turning into a film review website that occasionally plops out some Right-wing Truth nuggets, so why not embrace destiny?

Doing that is a lot easier when you have awesome contributors.  I’m fortunate to have one of the best:  Audre Myers.  She always delivers, often when I need her most!  Lately, she’s been contributing some excellent film reviews, which I run on Wednesdays (when available) as Midweek Myers Movie Reviews.  Here are three of her choice morsels for your (Turkish?) delight:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

SubscribeStar Saturday: Spooktacular 2022 Preview

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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.

The Spooktacular—my annual Halloween concert—returns in one week, on Saturday, 15 October 2022.  Since 2020—during the height of The Age of The Virus—I’ve hosted this annual celebration of musical spookiness (and spooky musicality) from my front porch.  It’s worked pretty well, and even spawned a published piece in Self-Reliance, so why mess with success?  We’re back on the front porch again.

I am adding one innovation, though, one that worked quite well with the TJC Spring Jam earlier this year:  like the Spring Jam, I’m turning the Spooktacular into a recital.  My buddy John and I will still play some tunes, and we’ll invite the kids up to play with us on “Monster Mash” and KISS’s “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” but the opening segment of the Spooktacular will feature my private music students.  Indeed, it’s an open invitation to anyone who wants to play a tune—come on out!

Of course, I’ll be working hard this weekend to get the house prepared for the Spooktacular—and to remind folks about it!  There are many little tasks to complete and items, large and small, to prepare, both to give everyone a fun time, and to squeeze some buckaroos out of the event.

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

October 2022 Bandcamp Friday

The Portly Politico3 Comments

It’s finally October—my favorite month of the year!  And it’s finally another Bandcamp Friday.

The first Fridays of October, November, and December 2022 will see the return of this pro-indie music observance, a day on which Bandcamp waives its usual 15% commission on sales.

In other words, when you buy my music, almost 100% of it goes to me, instead of almost 85%.

While I haven’t released any new music lately, I managed to release two short collections of music in April—Péchés d’âge moyen II: One Week in March and The Lo-Fi Hymnal II.  All of my releases are just a buck each, though you’re welcome to pay more if you’d like to help out yours portly.

Currently, my entire discography of ten releases is $6.50, a savings of 35%, which is not bad for ten releases.  That’s $0.65 per release—not too shabby!  To purchase the full discography, click on any release, and you’ll see the option to purchase all of them.

I’m also selling all of my paintings for $10, with free shipping in the United States, regardless of how many you purchase.  They’re one of kind, so once a painting is purchased, it’s gone.

Finally, my book The One-Minute Mysteries of Inspector Gerard: The Ultimate Flatfoot is $10 in paperback, and just $5 on Kindle.

Well, that’s it for this month’s sales pitch.  Thanks again for your support!

Happy Friday!

—TPP

TBT: Mahler’s Composing Shack

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We’re getting into the time of year when my personal creativity seems to spark.  I should be way more productive creatively in the summer, when I enjoy loads of unstructured time, but I find that I work better in the constrains and confines of a busy schedule.  For whatever reason, that extra pressure helps me to eke out, if not diamonds, then at least some lesser gems.

One well from which I have drawn some considerable inspiration the last couple of years was my Pre-AP Music Appreciation class.  It was a broad survey of Western music from the medieval period to the present, with a strong emphasis on the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods.  Due to a combination of scheduling difficulties and lower enrollment last year, the class did not run this year.

On the one hand, I’m thankful—it’s given me more time to focus on other endeavors.  On the other, I do miss the almost-daily baptism in the works of some of the greatest composers in the Western canon.

One element of the course that was particularly intriguing was learning about the lives and creative processes of the composers.  Many of them lived quite tragic lives; others (rarer, it seems, among composers) lived quite contentedly.

Gustav Mahler seemed to have developed a nice little work routine, as detailed in this post from October 2021.  I like the idea of having a stripped-down cottage by the sea, with a healthy breakfast brought to me as I work.  Sounds like the good life!

With that, here is 13 October 2021’s “Mahler’s Composing Shack“:

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Poem: The PACs

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My call for submissions continues to yield fruit—KC, a regular contributor to and participant in the Dragon Common Room Telegram chat and its various projects—reached out with this poem, which she says is “a satirical take on Dr. Seuss’s poem ‘The Zax‘….”

When I asked KC if she had any biographical information she’d like to share, she said, “I don’t! Sorry!  I’m literally just a bored housewife who writes for fun.”  Then she sent along something a bit more indicative of her talents:  she “is one of the writers of Rachel Fulton Brown’s Dragon Common Room Books; a contributing author to Centrism Games, Aurora Bearialis, and the upcoming Draco Alchemicus.  But mostly she is a wife and mother who writes for the she[e]r fun of it.”

As we head into the election season, this little poem is a fun reminder of the perils of Uniparty politics.

With that, here is KC’s “The PACs”:

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Open Mic Adventures VIII: Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence”

The Portly Politico6 Comments

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve managed to get out to open mic night, but I’m hoping to get back out there tonight for the first time in awhile.  If so, readers can expect some fresh videos in the coming weeks.

This week, however, I’m going back to an unposted classic from 19 July 2022.  It’s a duet with my buddy John Pickett on guitar and vocals, and I’m singing the harmonies.  If I had curly red hair, our cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence” would be even better!

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Monday Morning Movie Review: Portly’s Top Ten Best Films: #8: Heavy Metal (1981)

The Portly Politico3 Comments

There won’t be many animated films on my list—I don’t think!—but this week’s selection is the major exception.  If you like sword and sorcery, low fantasy carnage, outrageous science fiction, and classic hard rock, you’ll love 1981’s animated anthology Heavy Metal.

Heavy Metal is one of those flicks that won’t appeal to everyone, but it’s one that I find myself returning to routinely for repeat viewings.  I’ve always been a sucker for anthologies, and while some of the stories are a bit uneven, the effect of the whole is a colorful, musical ride through a fantastical, dark, humorous worlds.

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Lazy Sunday CLXV: More Movies, Part XXIX: Ponty and Portly’s #1 Worst Films

The Portly Politico2 Comments

At long last, the retrospective of worst films comes to a close.  Ponty and I are both relieved to have this project done, although I think it was harder on him than me.  My capacity for consuming trash—both filmically and gastrointestinally—is a bit more substantial than his own.  Of course, that just means his biting vitriol is that much better:

Perhaps Ponty and I should host a film festival and screen these two flicks, then see which is worse.  Which would be your pick?

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments: