Month: December 2025

Failure!

The Portly Politico6 Comments

Last night‘s Christmas gig was a bust. I will have more details next Saturday, but after driving about 415 miles, the client—who booked me to play, smooth, jazzy Christmas music—said it wasn’t what they were looking for. Basically, they wanted some booty shaking butt music.

I had a bad feeling going into the gig, but my desire for a few extra bucks at Christmastime got the better of me.

It is a good reminder, not to get greedy, and to trust your instincts.

GigSalad tins to attract a demographic that does not necessarily understand the concept of contracts. It has been one of my primary beefs with the service.

That said, I will walk away with about half of the guarantee. The gig itself will be a bit of a wash financially. Fortunately, I racked up a lot of miles, which I can at least write off on my taxes.

I am now about to narrate my church’s Christmas cantata. Then it is back up to see Dr. Wife.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

—TPP

SubscribeStar Saturday: Christmas Gigging

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Christmas is a goldmine for musicians, one I have not cashed in on in any meaningful way in years.  Christmas parties mean Christmas music, and a subset of those parties opt for live music.

Yours portly has been a longtime user of GigSalad as a free member, which means there are some limitations on my account.  From my experience with the service, it’s not worth the considerable price to upgrade to any of their paid versions.  However, lately I’ve been doing a bit better with bookings, landing two gigs within a week of each other.

Last Sunday afternoon, for example, I played for a young man’s proposal to his girlfriend (she said yes).  That saw me driving up to Wilmington, North Carolina after church.  It was an extremely cold and windy afternoon, and I played outside for about thirty minutes.  In spite of the weather, it was an honor to be part of such an important moment (and the client seemed pleased!).

Tonight, I’ll be heading down to Summerville, South Carolina, to play a couple of hours for a Christmas party (indoors, thank God!).  I loaded up a binder with copies of alto saxophone Christmas music from 8notes.com, an incredible online resource for music education and free sheet music.  It’s a two-hour solo engagement, which can be a bit daunting on sax, but it’s totally doable.

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Phone it in Friday CXIV: YouTube Roundup CLXXIV: Cruise Art

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Dr. Wife and I took a cruise for our honeymoon aboard Royal Caribbean‘s Explorer of the Seas. The artwork impressed, delighted, and even confounded me.

As such, I put together a brief video showcasing some of the art onboard the ship.  This video only captures a small fraction of the collages, paintings, photographs, mosaics, etc., aboard Explorer of the Seas.  The selections were often odd, but they really fit the atmosphere of the ship, and added a touch of elegance and class to the cruise.

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TBT^4: Joy to the World

The Portly Politico2 Comments

At this year’s Christmas Concert, the program accidentally included the lyrics to “Joy to the World.”  In the past, my students have played it as a singalong for the audience, but we haven’t done so in a few years.  I’m not sure why the lyrics got included in the program, but I briefly contemplated “winging it” and shouting the chords at my students while everyone sang.

I did not give into that temptation.  One that I have learned is that other people’s errors do not necessitate me fixing them in haphazard ways (usually).  We simply announced there was a mistake in the program and went on from there.

That said, the larger mistake was, indeed, mine—I should have put it in the Christmas Concert!  I love “Joy to the World,” and it’s really fun to play and sing.  I suppose next year I’ll have to toss it into the mix.

With that, here is 12 December 2024’s “TBT^2: Joy to the World“:

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Midweek Midterm Exams Update

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It is midterm exam week here, which means my schedule is a bit more flexible.  My World History students take their midterm exams today (Wednesday, 17 December 2025), which means I’ll be monitoring and grading throughout the day.

With a bit more flexibility this week, I have been going through my belongings to prepare items to sell on Facebook Marketplace and/or eBay, and to find things to donate to neighbors, friends, family, and/or Goodwill.  It is wild how much detritus one accumulates in a small house over the course of seven years, especially when it’s someone with latent hoarder tendencies like yours portly.

This morning a colleague purchased these Star Wars action figures from me (as well as a few other Kenner figurines I had sitting around the house):

My father-in-law went on a Facebook Marketplace kick when he and my mother-in-law were downsizing earlier this summer (see also:  my U-Haul adventure), and my own mom does a brisk business through it as well, so I’ve been turning stuff I don’t want to move to the new house into moderate treasure.  Some items move quickly and/or generate lots of interest; others sit in unsold purgatory, awaiting either redemption into paradise or a bleak end in the donation pile.

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Open Mic Adventures CLIX: “Dido’s Lament”

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Want to play the sax like yours portly?  Read my ultimate guide to getting started for under $350.

Years ago, my dear mom found a copy of The Usborne Book of Piano Classics (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through that link, at no additional cost to you) at a book sale and picked it up for me.  I have used that book countless times over the years for gigs, piano lessons, practice, arranging, etc.  My High School and Middle School Music Ensembles have performed arrangements based on those in the book many times at the annual South Carolina Independent School Association Music Festival.

While it consists of piano arrangements of famous pieces from the Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods, I often play the pieces on saxophone.  I found myself pulling the book out in preparation for a gig this past Sunday (a wedding proposal—the client’s girlfriend said yes!), and came upon a melancholy piece from the Baroque composer Henry Purcell, “When I am laid in earth,” perhaps better known as “Dido’s Lament.”  It’s from Purcell’s opera Dido and Aeneas.

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Memorable Monday Morning Movie Review: Nefarious (2023)

The Portly Politico2 Comments

Last year, when Dr. Wife was still Dr. Girlfriend, we sat down and watched an incredible movie exploring demonic possession and spiritual warfare.

That film was 2023’s Nefarious (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through that link, at no additional cost to you).  It’s one of the best films I’ve seen in years, and it’s an overtly Christian film (without making it feel like it’s overtly Christian).  It’s an excellent example of how Christians can make compelling art that espouses our beliefs culturally.

With that, here is 2 December 2024’s “Monday Morning Movie Review: Nefarious (2023)“:

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Lazy Sunday CCCXLIX: Christmas Cheer 2025, Part II

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Merry Christmas, TPP Readers!  I’m back with some more Christmas-related posts from the last week:

Happy Sunday—and Merry Christmas!

—TPP

SubscribeStar Saturday: Christmas Concert 2025 Postmortem

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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.

Good afternoon, my loyal subscribers!  Apologies for a late post today; yours portly crashed out after a long but productive day at work yesterday, which included my students’ annual Christmas Concert.

I’ll allow GEOTUS to articulate this sentiment in the way only he can:

Regardless, in the grand tradition of The Portly Politico, it’s time the annual Christmas Concert Postmortem, where I break down the program and how everything went.

For non-paying subscribers, don’t worry—the kids did a fabulous job, as they always do.  My Middle School Music Ensemble (MSME) played three pieces:

  • “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
  • “We Wish You a Merry Christmas”
  • “Last Christmas”

And my High School Music Ensemble (HSME) played four pieces:

  • “What Child is This?”
  • “Mary Did You Know?”
  • “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”
  • “O Holy Night”

For whatever reason, the HSME played a lot of songs whose titles are questions.  Don’t ask me why!

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