Month: August 2024

SubscribeStar Saturday: Lounge Gig Review

The Portly Politico2 Comments

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.

On Friday, 23 August 2024, my friend Sarah and I performed a show to celebrate her twenty-fifth birthday.  Sarah selected tunes performed by Adele and Linda Ronstadt, the two artists who have had the most profound influence on her own singing and musical tastes.

We’d been rehearsing all summer to play a small program of eight songs—four Adele, four Ronstadt, mixed up with each other—for the partygoers.  Sarah wanted to capture a real 1970s piano lounge vibe, and even asked guests to dress up in cocktail dresses and suits.

Naturally, yours portly had to lean into this vibe with a pink velvet tuxedo:

Tyler and Flamingo

It helped that I already owned that outrageous paisley shirt.  Here’s me right after showering, my hair still wet:

Tyler in Pink Tuxedo

I love how I look like a gay choir director in that second picture.

Questionable sartorial choices aside, the concert itself was a smashing success.

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

Phone it in Friday LXVI: YouTube Roundup XXII: Sleeper Hits

The Portly Politico6 Comments

Yours portly uploads a bunch of content to YouTube.  Most of those videos only get a handful of views (other than the shorts of Murphy, which usually garner a few hundred views).

Sometimes, though, for inexplicable reasons, one of my musical compositions—which usually clock views in the single digits, or maybe in the 20s-30s—will take off and get a (relatively) large amount of engagement.  That still might only translate to a 100 views or so, but it’s always fun when it happens.

So this week, I’m looking at some “sleeper hits” in this installment of YouTube Roundup.

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TBT^4: Rebuilding Civilization: The Hunter-Gatherer

The Portly Politico6 Comments

As readers are doubtlessly tired of hearing, I am teaching World History this year for the first time in over a decade.  So far it’s been hugely fun, as we have been studying the earliest humans and how people transitioned from the hunter-gathering lifestyle of the Paleolithic Age to the settled agricultural lifestyle of the Neolithic Age.  With agriculture came cities and, ultimately, civilization.

There’s been a subtle-but-noticeable trend of late that idolizes the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.  Wouldn’t it be great to spend a few hours gathering food each day, then lounging by the campfire with your kinsmen and relaxing?  Well, yes, if you’re in an area of great abundance, that wouldn’t be bad, but you’re also living with massive food insecurity all the time.

One telling graph in my students’ World History textbooks shows the population of the world prior to the rise of agriculture, and the population afterwards.  The transition is dramatic:  while the global population hovered around just a few hundred thousand people for millennia, the global population shot up to roughly ninety million people in the first 5000 years following the advent of agriculture.  The graph is a real hockey stick.

We definitely have made sacrifices for civilization, and I think Western Civilization has particularly grown quite sick.  Crowding a bunch of people into tightly-packed cities is probably not good for our mental health.  Some people need to live on forty acres in the middle of nowhere.  I suspect that most of us need considerably less space, but there’s something dehumanizing about cramming people into shoebox apartments stacked one atop the other.  We’re probably also not meant to destroy our minds and bodies on soul-sucking corporate work for a dozen hours a day, either.

But even with these drawbacks, civilization breeds life.  And the struggles inherent in maintaining a civilization create the greatest art and literature the world has ever known.

My argument for civilization will always boil down to this idea:  the civilization that produced Bach is a civilization worth preserving.

With that here is 24 August 2024’s “TBT^2: Rebuilding Civilization: The Hunter-Gatherer“:

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Fallout: Initial Reflections

The Portly Politico12 Comments

I was talking to a friend recently who recommended I try out the original Fallout video game, which first hit computer screens in 1997 (when yours portly was a doughy lad of twelve).  I missed Fallout and Fallout 2, only dipping into the series with the release of Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas.  I never played Fallout 4 or the doomed Fallout 76, the latter I had hoped would do well because it takes place in West Virginia, which just seemed cool to me (I’m still waiting for a Fallout game in the Southeast; West Virginia is the closest they’ve gotten so far).  Suffice it to say that, as much as I love this franchise, my experience is limited to the two games in the series that are arguably the finest entries (F:NV being the widely-accepted best installment in the franchise).

But what of the isometric origins of this series?  I’ve always wanted to dip my toes into Fallout and Fallout 2, but even having grown up in the era of late 90s/early 2000s gaming, some of the controls and interfaces of that era have aged poorly.  Even yours portly has become soft and indolent with the various quality of life improvements abundant in modern games.

That said, clunky controls (and, goodness, Fallout controls are clunky, until you get the hang of them) can’t stop this pudgy dynamo.  So it was that, a little over a week ago, I took my first serious foray into the game that started it all.

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Open Mic Adventures XCIV: “Nobles Gases”

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Yours portly released a new album earlier this summer, Heptadic Structure.  It’s an exploration of pieces in 7/4, 7/8, and 7/16 time.  Each piece is twenty-one written measures, for a total of 147 measures across the seven pieces.  Also, 14+7=21.  Math is fun!

You can listen to and/or purchase the album at the following links:

This week I’m featuring the sixth track from the album, “Nobles Gases.“  I did not realize until now that I mistakenly titled this piece “Nobles,” with an “S”; it’s supposed to be “Noble Gases,” but I apparently copy-pasted that errant “S” into all of the versions of the song, including what went to digital streaming services, so the title is now, and forever more shall be, “Nobles Gases”—ha!

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Monday Morning Movie Review: In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

The Portly Politico11 Comments

Regular readers will know that I love John Carpenter films.  Indeed, two Carpenter films featured in the Top 3 of my favorite movies of all time—Big Trouble in Little China (1986) and The Thing (1982).  I’ll watch pretty much anything Carpenter directs.  He has such a distinct visual style, his films are instantly recognizable.

One Carpenter film I’ve always struggled with, though, is 1994’s In the Mouth of Madness.  I’ve probably watched this film three times—it’s a perennial offering on Shudder—and each time I love the aesthetics of it, and the iconic lines—“Do you read Sutter Cane?”—but I’m never quite sure what to make of it.

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Lazy Sunday CCLXXVI: Music Stuff

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This past week was a musical one for yours portly, so I decided to dedicate today’s Lazy Sunday to some recent music posts:

Happy Sunday—and Happy Listening!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

  1. Lazy Sunday – APR Pieces
  2. Lazy Sunday II – Lincoln Posts
  3. Lazy Sunday III – Historical Moments
  4. Lazy Sunday IV – Christianity
  5. Lazy Sunday V – Progressivism, Part I
  6. Lazy Sunday VI – Progressivism, Part II
  7. Lazy Sunday VII – Deep State
  8. Lazy Sunday VIII – Conservatism
  9. Lazy Sunday IX – Economics, Part I
  10. Lazy Sunday X – Economics, Part II
  11. Lazy Sunday XI – Walls
  12. Lazy Sunday XII – Space
  13. Lazy Sunday XIII – Immigration
  14. Lazy Sunday XIV – Gay Stuff
  15. Lazy Sunday XV – Work
  16. Lazy Sunday XVI – #MAGAWeek2018
  17. Lazy Sunday XVII – #MAGAWeek2019
  18. Lazy Sunday XVIII – SubscribeStar Posts
  19. Lazy Sunday XIX – Music
  20. Lazy Sunday XX – The Laziest Sunday
  21. Lazy Sunday XXI – Travel
  22. Lazy Sunday XXII – Reading
  23. Lazy Sunday XXIII – Richard Weaver
  24. Lazy Sunday XXIV – Education
  25. Lazy Sunday XXV – Techno-Weirdos
  26. Lazy Sunday XXVI – Small Town Living
  27. Lazy Sunday XXVII – Bric-a-Brac
  28. Lazy Sunday XXVIII – World History
  29. Lazy Sunday XXIX – The New Criterion
  30. Lazy Sunday XXX – Trump, Part I
  31. Lazy Sunday XXXI – Trump, Part II
  32. Lazy Sunday XXXII – Festivals
  33. Lazy Sunday XXXIII – Virtue Signalling
  34. Lazy Sunday XXXIV – The Desperate Search for Meaning Series
  35. Lazy Sunday XXXV – Corporate Grind
  36. Lazy Sunday XXXVI – Best of the Reblogs, Part I
  37. Lazy Sunday XXXVII – Best of the Reblogs, Part II
  38. Lazy Sunday XXXVIII – Best of the Reblogs, Part III
  39. Lazy Sunday XXXIX – A Very Dokken Christmas Series
  40. Lazy Sunday XL – Christmas Carols
  41. Lazy Sunday XLI – Food
  42. Lazy Sunday XLII – 2019’s Top Five Posts
  43. Lazy Sunday XLIII – Music, Part II: More Music
  44. Lazy Sunday XLIV – SubscribeStar Saturday Posts, Part II: The Search for More Money
  45. Lazy Sunday XLV – Techno-Weirdos II
  46. Lazy Sunday XLVI – Man Time
  47. Lazy Sunday XLVII – Winning
  48. Lazy Sunday XLVIII – Culture
  49. Lazy Sunday XLIX – Family
  50. Lazy Sunday L – The Best of Lazy Sunday
  51. Lazy Sunday LI – Just for Fun
  52. Lazy Sunday LII – Democratic Candidates, Part I
  53. Lazy Sunday LIII – Democratic Candidates, Part II
  54. Lazy Sunday LIV – Coronavirus
  55. Lazy Sunday LV – Animals
  56. Lazy Sunday LVI – Movies
  57. Lazy Sunday LVII – Christianity, Part II
  58. Lazy Sunday LVIII – Spring Break Short Story Recommendations Recap
  59. Lazy Sunday LIX – The God Pill Series
  60. Lazy Sunday LX – Music, Part II: Gigging
  61. Lazy Sunday LXI – The Tuck
  62. Lazy Sunday LXII – The South
  63. Lazy Sunday LXIII – Holidays
  64. Lazy Sunday LXIV – Grab Bag
  65. Lazy Sunday LXV – Rioting
  66. Lazy Sunday LXVI – Video Games
  67. Lazy Sunday LXVII – Phone it in Fridays, Part I
  68. Lazy Sunday LXVIII – Phone it in Fridays, Part II
  69. Lazy Sunday LXIX – Phone it in Fridays, Part III
  70. Lazy Sunday LXX – Phone it in Friday, Part IV
  71. Lazy Sunday LXXI – Road Trips
  72. Lazy Sunday LXXII – Forgotten Posts, Volume I
  73. Lazy Sunday LXXIII – Forgotten Posts, Volume II
  74. Lazy Sunday LXXIV – Forgotten Posts, Volume III
  75. Lazy Sunday LXXV – Forgotten Posts, Volume IV
  76. Lazy Sunday LXXVI – Forgotten Posts, Volume V
  77. Lazy Sunday LXXVII – Rural America
  78. Lazy Sunday LXXVIII – Space, Part II
  79. Lazy Sunday LXXXIX – SCOTUS
  80. Lazy Sunday LXXX – Big Ideas
  81. Lazy Sunday LXXXI – Education, Part II
  82. Lazy Sunday LXXXII – Universal Studios
  83. Lazy Sunday LXXXIII – The Mountains
  84. Lazy Sunday LXXXIV – Halloween Hijinks
  85. Lazy Sunday LXXXV – Elections
  86. Lazy Sunday LXXXVI – Questions, Part I
  87. Lazy Sunday LXXXVII – Questions, Part II
  88. Lazy Sunday LXXXVIII – Questions, Part III
  89. Lazy Sunday LXXXIX – 100 Week Review
  90. Lazy Sunday XC – Questions, Part IV
  91. Lazy Sunday XCI – Questions, Part V
  92. Lazy Sunday XCII – Christmas
  93. Lazy Sunday XCIII – 2020’s Top Five Posts
  94. Lazy Sunday XCIV – My Favorite Things
  95. Lazy Sunday XCV – The Best of Lazy Sunday
  96. Lazy Sunday XCVI – More Movies: Movie Reviews, Part I
  97. Lazy Sunday XCVII – More Movies II: Movie Reviews, Part II
  98. Lazy Sunday XCVIII – More Movies III: Movie Reviews, Part III
  99. Lazy Sunday XCIX – Romantic Music
  100. Lazy Sunday C – Valentine’s Day
  101. Lazy Sunday CI – Obituaries, Part I
  102. Lazy Sunday CII – Obituaries, Part II
  103. Lazy Sunday CIII – Begging
  104. Lazy Sunday CIV – Time
  105. Lazy Sunday CV – Grab Bag II
  106. Lazy Sunday CVI – Adventures
  107. Lazy Sunday CVII – Easter
  108. Lazy Sunday CVIII – Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2021 Recap
  109. Lazy Sunday CIX – Pillow Talk
  110. Lazy Sunday CX – Inspector Gerard Reviews
  111. Lazy Sunday CXI – Bric-a-Brac II
  112. Lazy Sunday CXII – Responsibility
  113. Lazy Sunday CXIII – Short Stories
  114. Lazy Sunday CXIV – More Movies IV: Movie Reviews, Part IV
  115. Lazy Sunday CXV – Memorable Mondays
  116. Lazy Sunday CXVI – Delays
  117. Lazy Sunday CXVII – More Movies V – Movie Reviews, Part V
  118. Lazy Sunday CXVIII – More Movies VI – Movie Reviews, Part VI
  119. Lazy Sunday CXIX – Summer Camps
  120. Lazy Sunday CXX – Animals, Part II
  121. Lazy Sunday CXXI – MAGAWeek2021 Posts
  122. Lazy Sunday CXXII – MAGAWeek2020 Posts
  123. Lazy Sunday CXXIII – Murphy
  124. Lazy Sunday CXXIV – Bible Posts
  125. Lazy Sunday CXXV – More Movies VII – Movie Reviews, Part VII
  126. Lazy Sunday CXXVI – Joy, Part I
  127. Lazy Sunday CXXVII – Joy, Part II – Music
  128. Lazy Sunday CXXVIII – Civilization
  129. Lazy Sunday CXXIX – Friends, Part I
  130. Lazy Sunday CXXX – Friends, Part II
  131. Lazy Sunday CXXXI – Friends, Part III
  132. Lazy Sunday CXXXII – Milestones
  133. Lazy Sunday CXXXIII – Inspector Gerard
  134. Lazy Sunday CXXXIV – Friends, Part IV
  135. Lazy Sunday CXXXV – More Movies VIII – Movie Reviews, Part VIII
  136. Lazy Sunday CXXXVI – More Movies IX – Movie Reviews, Part IX
  137. Lazy Sunday CXXXVII – More Halloween Hijinks
  138. Lazy Sunday CXXXVIII – Friends, Part V
  139. Lazy Sunday CXXXIX – More Movies, Part X – Movie Reviews, Part X
  140. Lazy Sunday CXL – More Movies, Part XI – Movie Reviews, Part XI
  141. Lazy Sunday CXLI – Thanksgiving Stuff(ing)
  142. Lazy Sunday CXLII – More Movies, Part XII – Movie Reviews, Part XII
  143. Lazy Sunday CXLIII – More Movies, Part XIII – Movie Reviews, Part XIII
  144. Lazy Sunday CXLIV – More Christmas Carols
  145. Lazy Sunday CXLV – Christmas Cheer
  146. Lazy Sunday CXLVI – 2021’s Top Five Posts
  147. Lazy Sunday CXLVII – More Movies, Part XIV – Movie Reviews, Part XIV
  148. Lazy Sunday CXLVIII – The Gemini Sonnets #1 and #2
  149. Lazy Sunday CXLIX – The Gemini Sonnets #3 and #4
  150. Lazy Sunday CL – The Gemini Sonnets #5 and #6
  151. Lazy Sunday CLI – More Movies, Part XV – Movies Reviews, Part XV
  152. Lazy Sunday CLII – Romance
  153. Lazy Sunday CLIII – Behind the Songs, Part I
  154. Lazy Sunday CLIV – Behind the Songs, Part II
  155. Lazy Sunday CLV – Péchés d’âge moyen Posts
  156. Lazy Sunday CLVI – More Son of Sonnet
  157. Lazy Sunday CLVII – Ponty’s Posts, Part I
  158. Lazy Sunday CLVIII – Ponty’s Posts, Part II
  159. Lazy Sunday CLIX – Scrambie Eggs
  160. Lazy Sunday CLX: Fine Arts Festival
  161. Lazy Sunday CLXI: Easter II
  162. Lazy Sunday CLXII: Spring Break Short Story Recommendations Recap 2022
  163. Lazy Sunday CLXIII: Friends, Part VI
  164. Lazy Sunday CLXIV: Friends, Part VII
  165. Lazy Sunday CLXV: Friends, Part VIII
  166. Lazy Sunday CLXVI: Friends, Part IX
  167. Lazy Sunday CLXVII: Friends, Part X
  168. Lazy Sunday CLXVIII: More Movies, Part XVI: Movie Reviews, Part XVI
  169. Lazy Sunday CLXIX: More Movies, Part XVII: Movie Reviews, Part XVII
  170. Lazy Sunday CLXX: More Movies, Part XVIII: Movie Reviews, Part XVIII
  171. Lazy Sunday CLXXI: Frederick Ingram, Part I
  172. Lazy Sunday CLXXII: Frederick Ingram, Part II
  173. Lazy Sunday CLXXIII: MAGAWeek2022
  174. Lazy Sunday CLXXIV: More Movies, Part XIX: Movie Reviews, Part XIX
  175. Lazy Sunday CLXXV: More Movies, Part XX: Movie Reviews, Part XX
  176. Lazy Sunday CLXXVI: More Movies, Part XXI: Movie Reviews, Part XXI
  177. Lazy Sunday CLXXVII: School, Part I
  178. Lazy Sunday CLXXVIII: School, Part II
  179. Lazy Sunday CLXXIX: More Movies, Part XXII: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part I
  180. Lazy Sunday CLXXX: More Movies, Part XXIII: Portly’s Worst Films, Part I
  181. Lazy Sunday CLXXXI: More Movies, Part XXIV: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part II
  182. Lazy Sunday CLXXXII: More Movies, Part XXV: Portly’s Worst Films, Part II
  183. Lazy Sunday CLXXXIII: More Movies, Part XXVII: Ponty’s Worst Films, Part III
  184. Lazy Sunday CLXXXIV: More Movies, Part XXVIII: Portly’s Worst Films, Part III
  185. Lazy Sunday CLXXXV: More Movies, Part XXIX: Ponty and Portly’s #1 Worst Films
  186. Lazy Sunday CLXXXVI: More Movies, Part XXX: Midweek Myers Movie Reviews, Part I
  187. Lazy Sunday CLXXXVII: More Movies, Part XXXI: Midweek Myers Movie Reviews, Part II
  188. Lazy Sunday CLXXXVIII: Video Games II: Ponty’s Picks
  189. Lazy Sunday CLXXXIX: Even More Halloween Hijinks: The Musical
  190. Lazy Sunday CXC: Cozy Time
  191. Lazy Sunday CXCI: Veterans Day Posts
  192. Lazy Sunday CXCII: Myersvision, Part I
  193. Lazy Sunday CXCIII: Thanksgiving Week Posts
  194. Lazy Sunday CXCIV: Solo Cover EP, Part I
  195. Lazy Sunday CXCV: Solo Cover EP, Part II
  196. Lazy Sunday CLXXVI: 2022’s Top Three
  197. Lazy Sunday CXCVII: Review[s] of A Christmas Carol (1951)
  198. Lazy Sunday CXCVIII: The Worst of 2022
  199. Lazy Sunday CXCIX: More Movies XXXII: Portly’s Best Films, Part I
  200. Lazy Sunday CC: More Movies XXXIII: Ponty’s Best Films, Part I
  201. Lazy Sunday CCI: More Movies XXXIV: Portly’s Best Films, Part II
  202. Lazy Sunday CCII: More Movies XXXV: Ponty’s Best Films, Part II
  203. Lazy Sunday CCIII: P​é​ch​é​s d​’​â​ge moyen Picks
  204. Lazy Sunday CCIV: Arizonan Sojourn, Part I
  205. Lazy Sunday CCV: Portly’s Best Films, Part III
  206. Lazy Sunday CCVI: Ponty’s Best Films, Part III
  207. Lazy Sunday CCVII: The Beach
  208. Lazy Sunday CCVIII: Walks
  209. Lazy Sunday CCXIX: Paintings
  210. Lazy Sunday CCX: Arizonan Sojourn, Part II
  211. Lazy Sunday CCXI: Hono[u]rable Mentions
  212. Lazy Sunday CCXII: Easter III
  213. Lazy Sunday CCXIII: Spring Break Short Story Recommendations 2023
  214. Lazy Sunday CCXIV: Ponty and Portly’s #1 Picks
  215. Lazy Sunday CCXV: Myersvision, Part II
  216. Lazy Sunday CCXVI: Myersvision, Part III
  217. Lazy Sunday CCXVII: Myersvision, Part IV
  218. Lazy Sunday CCXVIII: Myersvision, Part V
  219. Lazy Sunday CCXIX: Myersvision, Part VI
  220. Lazy Sunday CCXX: Myersvision, Part VII
  221. Lazy Sunday CCXXI: Intergalactic Nonsense
  222. Lazy Sunday CCXXII: Stories
  223. Lazy Sunday CCXXIII: Original Music, Part I
  224. Lazy Sunday CCXXIV: Original Music, Part II
  225. Lazy Sunday CCXXV: MAGAWeek2023 Posts
  226. Lazy Sunday CCXXVI: Greatest Hits Recap
  227. Lazy Sunday CCXXVII: Ponty Week 2023
  228. Lazy Sunday CCXXVIII: D.C., Part I
  229. Lazy Sunday CCXXIX: D.C., Part II
  230. Lazy Sunday CCXXX: TJC Deep Cuts
  231. Lazy Sunday CCXXXI: Weird Piano Music
  232. Lazy Sunday CCXXXII: Cinema
  233. Lazy Sunday CCXXXIII: Monarchy
  234. Lazy Sunday CCXXXIV: Sandwiches
  235. Lazy Sunday CCXXXV: Skeletons
  236. Lazy Sunday CCXXXVI: Myersvision, Part VIII
  237. Lazy Sunday CCXXXVII: Myersvision, Part IX
  238. Lazy Sunday CCXXXVIII: Festivals II
  239. Lazy Sunday CCXXXIX: Two Cryptid Tunes
  240. Lazy Sunday CCXL: Ghostly Doings
  241. Lazy Sunday CCXLI: Veterans Day Posts II
  242. Lazy Sunday CCXLII: Indie Musician Rants
  243. Lazy Sunday CCXLIII: 2023 Releases
  244. Lazy Sunday CCXLIV: Civilization Series
  245. Lazy Sunday CCXLV: Chapel Lessons, Part I
  246. Lazy Sunday CCXLVI: Chapel Lessons, Part II
  247. Lazy Sunday CCXLVII: Christmas Concert Reviews
  248. Lazy Sunday CCXLVIII: The Best of 2023
  249. Lazy Sunday CCXLIX: Best Ponty Posts of 2023
  250. Lazy Sunday CCL: Best Myersvision Posts of 2023
  251. Lazy Sunday CCLI: YouTube Roundup Roundup I
  252. Lazy Sunday CCLII: YouTube Roundup Roundup II
  253. Lazy Sunday CCLIII: Firefly Dance Tracks, Part I
  254. Lazy Sunday CCLIV: Firefly Dance Tracks, Part II
  255. Lazy Sunday CCLV: Firefly Dance Tracks, Part III
  256. Lazy Sunday CCLVI: Days Off
  257. Lazy Sunday CCLVII: Murphy Vids, Part I
  258. Lazy Sunday CCLVIII: Food II
  259. Lazy Sunday CCLIX: Four Mages, Part I
  260. Lazy Sunday CCLX: Murphy Vids, Part II
  261. Lazy Sunday CCLXI: Ultra Laziness
  262. Lazy Sunday CCLXII: Mothers
  263. Lazy Sunday CCLXIII: Four Mages, Part II
  264. Lazy Sunday CCLXIV: End of School Events
  265. Lazy Sunday CCLXV: Disco Elysium Reviews
  266. Lazy Sunday CCLXVI: Political Stuff, Part I
  267. Lazy Sunday CCLXVII: Political Stuff, Part II
  268. Lazy Sunday CCLXVIII: Milestones II
  269. Lazy Sunday CCLXIX: Cryptid Epistemology Mini-Series
  270. Lazy Sunday CCLXX: TJC Deep Cuts II
  271. Lazy Sunday CCLXXI: Trump Stuff
  272. Lazy Sunday CCLXXII: Harris Stuff
  273. Lazy Sunday CCLXXIII: Heptadic Structure Tracks, Part I
  274. Lazy Sunday CCLXXIV: More Movies XXXVI: Movie Reviews, Part XXII: Reviews for Audre
  275. Lazy Sunday CCLXXV: Singing to Murphy

SubscribeStar Saturday: Composing “Ötzi”

The Portly Politico2 Comments

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.

Yours portly is teaching World History this year, and it has been so fun talking about prehistoric humans.  Particularly, I find Ötzi, a Chalcolithic Age European who died roughly 5000 years ago in the Austro-Italian Alps, fascinating.  Two German hikers discovered his mummified remains in the ice in 1991, providing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn about the lifestyle and diet of people in prehistoric Europe.

Ötzi has captured my imagination so much, I composed a lengthy piece depicting his icy trudge through the Alps, and his tragic last hours (an arrow pierced his back, likely killing him).  Upon his death, snow began to fall, preserving Ötzi’s remains in ice for millennia.

I began composing a slow, morose tuba piece, which is only twenty-five measures long on paper and in my composition software:

Handwritten Manuscript for "Ötzi"

The slow 6/8 section captures a gloomy-but-whimsical feeling, as one might feel on a frosty trudge through the high mountains.  The 5/8 section speeds up considerably, depicting what may have been Ötzi’s hasty, violent retreat from his attackers.

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TBT^2: Chapel Lesson: Listening

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Today marks the first Chapel of the new school year.  My school holds chapel every Thursday, and we have a really excellent chaplain.  He is an Episcopalian/Anglican reverend originally from England, and he is a true man of God.  He is also a towering figure, and he makes an impression.  I am teaching one of his sons in my Middle School Music Ensemble this year, too, which is fun!  The young man plays cello.

When the good Father can’t be there to give the chapel devotional, though, I am typically asked to substitute.  For awhile, I was informally taking on occasional chaplain duties with and from our last chaplain, a very sweet young man who was shy about speaking in front of large crowds, which made it a bit difficult for him to muster up the courage to deliver the weekly devotional.

Thus it was that this short little lesson was born, as I was the “warmup act,” as it were, to show this young former chaplain that it’s not too difficult if you just listen to the Holy Spirit and speak from God’s Word.

With that, here is 31 August 2023’s “TBT: Chapel Lesson: Listening“:

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