Author: The Portly Politico

Tyler James Cook is a singer-songwriter in Lamar, South Carolina. He is formerly of The Lovecrafts and Brass to the Future, and currently performs regularly as a solo artist at local open mic nights. He sings and plays sax, keys, and a little bass. He loves songwriting contests, even if he isn't cool or talented enough to win them. He won the 2012 Artsville Songwriting Contest's People's Choice Prize for his original song "Contest Winner." He also maintains _The Portly Politico_, a politics and culture blog, at https://theportlypolitico.wordpress.com.

TBT^16: The Joy of Romantic Music II: Bedřich Smetana’s “The Moldau”

8 January 20267 January 2026 The Portly Politico2 Comments

Other than a quick piece I dashed off earlier this week, I haven’t had much time for composing. However, my koi pond adventures have inspired me—just in time to reblog this post about one of my favorite pieces of Romantic music.

That the piece is about a river is appropriate—while my koi are swirling about in a murky pond, the watery imagery is a source of inspiration for the piece that is slowly taking shape in mind.

I actually have an idea for the cover art for the album that will feature this imagined piece. I took a picture of these cool little koi tea cups that Dr. Wife got me for my birthday on one of the pianos at school:

Regardless, I’ve always loved this piece, ever since I read about it in Roger Kamien’s Music: An Appreciation, Brief 8th Edition (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through that link, at no additional cost to you) and listened to it with my students.

With that, here is 9 January 2025’s “TBT^4: The Joy of Romantic Music II: Bedřich Smetana’s ‘The Moldau’“:

Midweek Koi Pond Update

7 January 20267 January 2026 The Portly Politico8 Comments

I’ll be weighing in soon on the capture of the Venezuelan dictator Maduro soon over at Free Speech Backlash. The quick version: it’s the Monroe Doctrine, baby! More to come. —TPP

Yours portly has found a new obsession: the koi pond that came with our new home. I’ve been so passionate about tending to this pond, Dr. Wife bought me a book that is apparently the authority on all things koi (that link is an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of the proceeds from any purchase made through that link at no additional cost to you).

The previous owners constructed a very nice pond; from what I can tell from my research, they built a textbook pond for koi. The problem right now is that the water is incredibly murky, so we can only see the koi when they surface to feed. It being winter, our koi don’t eat often—they largely hibernate when the water temperature gets below 50 or 60 degrees Fahrenheit. Currently, our water temperature is around 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

To that end, I’m looking to purchase some Japanese Trapdoor Snails (JTSs). These snails are amazing: they are cold-hardy, so they survive through winter; they give birth to live young, so they reproduce slowly, virtually eliminating the risk of overpopulation; and they are living vacuum cleaners for muck and algae. However, Fishy Business in Columbia, South Carolina still doesn’t have any in stock.

I’ve been having late-night conversations with Microsoft’s CoPilot AI about stocking the pond, in addition to doing research on my own. CoPilot brought up ramshorn snails, which I have read about as well. Unlike JTSs, they lay eggs, so overpopulation is more of a concern; however, koi and the rosy red minnows I added to our pond will often eat the eggs and/or baby snails, so the population should stay in check. I’ve ordered around twenty of them from a seller on eBay (apparently, you can purchase live snails from randos on the Internet) and will introduce those when they arrive next week.

New Music Tuesday I: “Herald”

6 January 20268 January 2026 The Portly Politico4 Comments

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Now that it’s 2026, it’s time to make a few changes to the blog. One of those overdue changes comes to the long-running weekly feature Open Mic Adventures.

According to a hasty review of my records, I ceased playing open mics—and, indeed, most live gigs outside of private bookings—in 2025. I simply lacked the time and energy—and interest. I much prefer rehearsing my students so they can play live.

That’s been one of the big changes in my life in recent years. I enjoy playing live, but as I get older, going to open mic nights and playing songs I wrote a decade (or more) ago lost its luster. It’s also amazing how once I got engaged (and now married), my desire to show off in coffee shops plummeted. If I’m going to play to impress anyone—always a dubious proposition—it’s going to be for Dr. Wife.

That’s all to say that I’m not ending Open Mic Adventures, per se—there’s always that chance I’ll get that itch to play and get some good video in the process—but that I’m shifting it into something more accurate: New Music Tuesday. The “Open Mic” appellation ceased to be accurate for most of 2025, as I featured more and more of my original electronic compositions.

Of course, good ol’ WordPress.com makes it easy to put together these weekly, multimedia posts. One thing I’ve come to love about WordPress.com is how intuitive it is to upload all sorts of media.

For example, here is today’s featured track, “Herald,” uploaded as a beautifully lossless WAV file using the “Audio” block:

I found this brief piece scribbled on a red tardy slip I had in my desk. I apparently wrote it down on 8 August 2023, and finally put it into my music composition software this morning. It’s a very simple, quick piece, indicative of the kinds of etudes I was composing at that time. As such, “Herald” is a brief piano fanfare, suitable for players at most levels.

Monday Morning Movie Review: Gremlins (1984)

5 January 20265 January 2026 The Portly Politico2 Comments

Over the glorious Christmas Break Dr. Wife and I sat down to watch one of my favorite childhood flicks, Gremlins (1984; that’s an Amazon Affiliate link to a Blu-Ray of the film, along with Gremlins 2 and The Goonies; I received a portion of any purchase made through that link, at no additional cost to you). She had never seen it before, and as it is a Christmas movie (at least, it takes place at Christmas), I thought we should give it a watch. I also knew that she would love Gizmo, the plucky Mogwai (she did).

I remember a similar scenario many years ago with my older brother’s first wife: we all sat down and watched Gremlins, which she had never seen before, and it was a delightful experience. Dr. Wife was feeling under-the-weather when we did our viewing together, but she thoroughly enjoyed it. I did as well, even though I did not enjoy wrapping Christmas presents (poorly) while we watched—ha!

Lazy Sunday CCCXLXI: 2026

4 January 20264 January 2026 The Portly Politico6 Comments

It’s the fourth day of 2026, which works out well, because I typically feature three posts on Lazy Sundays. So, why not look back at the first three days of this already-eventful year?

“TBT: Happy New Year from TPP!” (and “Happy New Year from TPP!“) – Happy New Year—from me!
“Phone it in Friday CXVI: YouTube Roundup CLXXVI: Cute Animals” – Some recent YouTube videos of adorable critters.
“It Is My Birthday.” – A quick birthday update from yours portly, who marches inexorably deeper into middle age.

How’s 2026 shaping up for you so far, dear readers?

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

It Is My Birthday.

3 January 20263 January 2026 The Portly Politico8 Comments

Today is my 41st birthday. Dr. Wife is taking me to our favorite local Italian place for dinner, and surprised me with a nice card and a cool LEGO set. I spent the morning selling two big-ticket items on Facebook Marketplace—both of which have been dangling around my neck like an albatross for weeks—and we’ll be attending the swearing-in of new Lamar Town Councilmembers this afternoon (my term is done).

More updates to come!

Happy Saturday!

—TPP

Phone it in Friday CXVI: YouTube Roundup CLXXVI: Cute Animals

2 January 202630 December 2025 The Portly Politico2 Comments

Regular readers will know how much I love animals. One of the more surprising changes as I approached middle-age is that I went from being aloof towards the animal kingdom to adoring animals. I’m not sure what changed or what clicked, but getting my dog Murphy was definitely a big step in that process.

Regardless, this Friday I have a couple of cute animal videos from below and above the waves:

TBT: Happy New Year from TPP!

1 January 202630 December 2025 The Portly Politico7 Comments

2025 was quite a year! Dr. Wife and I often talk about how long the year felt, for good and for ill.

It was a year with many ups and downs. Dr. Wife’s third year of residency has been brutal, but she is doing well as the co-chief resident. My work schedule has been far more manageable, but financing and buying a house—as well as planning a wedding!—took up a good deal of my time in the latter half of the year (to Dr. Wife’s immense credit, most of the latter-stage wedding planning fell to her—she really nailed the fun details, things I would have neglected or not thought of). My maternal grandfather passed away; several of her close friends and family have had personal and medical crises.

But we also got married—woooooot!—and bought a house. We have great dogs and even better families. We have immensely enjoyed spending so much time together over the Christmas holiday, even if we’ve been rocketing all over the Carolinas moving furniture. We are excited for 2026!

What are your hopes and dreams for 2026, dear readers? Leave a comment and let me know. I think Dr. Wife and I primarily want to get moved into our house completely—and get her through residency!

With that, here is 1 January 2025’s “Happy New Year from TPP!“:

Midweek Moving

31 December 202530 December 2025 The Portly Politico2 Comments

Dr. Wife and I continue our gradual moving process today with another big load. This time, we’re heading from her current residence in North Carolina to our new house in South Carolina.

As part of this stage in our moving process, we stayed overnight at her parents’ new house in another part of North Carolina to dog-sit their precious pug:

Her parents gave us an[other] awesome recliner, so I decided to rent another U-Haul in their town to take advantage of our visit.

However, we ran into a bit of a logistical problem: how do we get two cars and a moving truck down to South Carolina? Alternatively, how do we get vehicles where they need to be without necessitating a six-hour-roundtrip drive to and from Dr. Wife’s place?

Open Mic Adventures CLXI: “Clean-Shaven at Christmas”

30 December 202529 December 2025 The Portly Politico4 Comments

Christmastime is pretty busy for yours portly, which means my shaving routine tends to get disrupted. I usually find myself nearing beard capacity by the time Christmas approaches, so I always take the time to do a thorough shave before the big day.

That being the case, I made up a little song, “Clean-Shaven at Christmas,” some years ago. My nephews in particular love it, and will sing it—unprompted!—as Christmas approaches (I also taught them to wake up on Christmas morning shouting, “It’s Christmas! It’s Christmas!”).

So it was that I decided to piece together a YouTube Short of the phases of my shaving with my voice accompanying. There’s even a gross closeup of where I cut myself while shaving—gasp!