Somehow, some of my most popular content on YouTube has been very short videos of public transportation. No, they aren’t people behaving badly on mass transit; they’re literally just videos of various modes of transport.
Perhaps I’ve tapped into some strange niche. Or maybe the algorithm just liked that I was posting videos from more populous regions during my recent trip to Indianapolis.
Regardless, here are some trains and planes (no automobiles, sorry) for your enjoyment:
It’s wild to consider that, about a year ago, President Trump survived a public assassination attempt. It was a turning point in the election, and had the president not turned to look at a chart at the precise moment the bullet flew, it likely would have been a dire turning point for the nation as a whole.
Fortunately, the bullet missed. What is crazy to consider is that, a year on, this entire event seems to be forgotten—or, at least, not discussed very much. I suppose that is the way of things—who talks about the various assassinations of European nobility and royalty in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries? Other than an Austrian archduke, we don’t.
I still shudder to think of how differently things might have been had the bullet struck. I suspect we’d have a J.D. Vance presidency—if the election had happened at all. Civil war would have been a likely outcome; the government cracking down and/or cancelling the election on grounds of “public safety” could have been another. Biden’s cancerous shell might still be marionetting around the White House.
Well, thank God the would-be assassin missed, but let us keep fighting on.
With that, here is 15 July 2025’s “We Are All Deplorables Now“:
In case you missed it, yours portly is getting married. Yesterday, I decided to sit down and figure out music for the ceremony (pending Dr. Fiancée’s approval, of course) so that our pianist—the incomparable Robert Mason Sandifer—can get to practicing.
I’m not selecting anything controversial or daring for the processional or recessional. I’ve asked Mason to have fun with the prelude music and to play some of his original compositions, but for the ceremony itself, it’s straight-up Baroque classics.
I’m finally gearing back up the composing, and have a new-ish piece for y’all this week. It’s a crunchy groove based on a crunchy roll:
A few weeks ago Dr. Fiancée and I went to see the new Wes Anderson film, The Phoenician Scheme (2025). I’ve long been a big fan of Wes Anderson’s unique style, but Dr. Fiancée has never seen any of his films. For the first twenty or so minutes of the film, I was thinking, “Good Lord, what I have done to her?” But her first outing into the world Wes Anderson went well, and she enjoyed the film.
It’s America’s birthday weekend, but I’m going to feature a couple of posts about Australian movies:
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
Other Lazy Sunday Installments:
Hello, dear readers,
Yours portly is taking this weekend off from extensive blogging. Enjoy leftover Independence Day foods with your family and friends. I’ll be flying back from a week in Indianapolis with my older brother.
More details to come next week!
Happy Saturday!
—TPP
Fifteen years ago today, on 4 July 2010, my old brass band, Brass to the Future, played an outdoor concert in a park in my hometown of Aiken, South Carolina. It was a bit of a “guerrilla” concert, in that we did not ask permission, but just showed up in the park and started playing for our fans.
In the spirit of Independence Day, I’m featuring rare footage from that concert today.
It is wild looking back at the past year’s posts, and seeing how liberty keeps rallying to victory every time it seems near to death. A year ago, the future seemed uncertain; today, it seems as though a light is shining through the fog. Yes, America still has problems—lots of them—but we’re finally experiencing competent leadership that—gasp!—puts Americans first.
So it is that, at 249-years-old tomorrow, it seems that, at long last, America is back.
With that, here is 4 July 2024’s “TBT^4,294,967,296: Happy Birthday America!“:
I’m kicking off July with another LEGO build. This time, I fashioned my limited number of pieces into a cargo hauler, complete with the battle droid folded up for easy transport.
The Portly Politico 