It’s Christmastime, and I own an out-of-tune piano and a candelabra. Naturally, I had to film myself playing “Silent Night” by candlelight.
As such, here is my short rendition of that sweet, timeless carol, played on a piano with a few dead keys and lots of character:
Back in 2022 a couple of my regular contributors and I each took turns reviewing the 1951 film adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (for links to all three reviews, click here). The film has since became almost annual viewing for yours portly, a tradition I hope to continue with Dr. Wife.
With all the busyness of the wedding and last week’s school play (as well as this week’s school concert), I decided to take this morning to look back at my review from three years ago.
The film is a poignant reminder to keep the joy of Christmas alive in our hearts, something that is often difficult as the trials of adulthood responsibility exact their toll. But Christmas is the time of year to celebrate the Birth of Jesus, and to recapture—to the extent possible—the simple magic of childhood.
With that, here is 19 December 2022’s “Monday Morning Movie Review: A Very Portly Christmas: A Christmas Carol (1951)“:
The Christmas season is here! As such, here are some classic posts of yesterweek to get you into the yuletide spirit:
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
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This past week involved the intensive preparations for the big Christmas Play, which was last night at my little school. It’s a pretty big night from a technical perspective, as the Drama Teacher also conducts the Choir and our Dance classes. As such, all of her students—actors, singers, dancers—all perform as part of a performing arts extravaganza.
It makes for a unique and fun, albeit hectic, experience, and requires yours portly to pull out all of his amateur audio tracks to make it happen.
All of our productions are, out of necessity, staged in the gym, which I call the “Gymnatorium” (at one point, students ate lunch there, too, so it was the “Gymnacafetorium”). Getting good sound quality, especially for plays, has always been a struggle.
Fortunately, our Athletics Department invested in a new sound system, which offers much more complete coverage than the 15″ speakers I’d been using for years (although those speakers are great). The problem is that the system came with a new digital mixer (a good thing) that only has six functional channels (that’s the bad part).
Because our productions often require at least a dozen inputs (and frequently more), I had to get creative with the sound system setup, and came up with this bad boy:
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The cruise bug has latched onto me with its luxurious pincers and won’t let go. Dr. Wife and I enjoyed an amazing honeymoon on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the Explorer of the Seas, which visited the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. It was my first cruise, and I loved it.
Naturally, I took the opportunity to film some silly YouTube Shorts, three of which I’m sharing up today:
The Christmas season is upon us again, which means it’s time for yours portly to dust off some classic posts of yesteryuletide, including this timeless classic about a timeless carol.
My students have their big Christmas concert next Friday, 12 December 2025, and while we’re not playing this carol this year, I will surely be playing it at church soon. That said, this sweet, simple carol will always hold a special place in my heart.
With that, here is 5 December 2024’s “TBT^256: ‘O Little Town of Bethlehem’ and the Pressures of Songwriting“:
Well, I’ve been married for a whopping eleven-ish days—and I love it! Specifically, I love my wife.
Naturally, a good chunk of those days were spent living the sweet life aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise. We went down to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic and to Royal Caribbean’s private island, Coco Cay. It was my first cruise and I loved spending all of that quiet, relaxing, unstructured time with Dr. Wife.
Now, it’s back to Reality for both of us. Dr. Wife is finishing up her residency in North Carolina and I’m still at my school in South Carolina, so we’re living apart during the weeks until she wraps up residency next summer. That means we’re delaying the usual first-year-of-marriage stuff, like adjusting to living together full-time.
Ah, yes, Christmas—a magical time of year, when a doughy blogger belts out your favorite classics with lyrics modified to fit his own eccentric brand of chubby humor.
Good old Ponty sent along this awesome review before I headed out on my honeymoon, which saves me the creative effort of crafting a thoughtful review of some crappy movie after being unplugged for the past week.
Instead, you get this great review of an awesome movie. Anytime Italo Calvino is referenced in a movie review, you know it’s going to be good.
I’m sure I’ve seen The Usual Suspects—or I thought I was sure until I read Ponty’s review. Now… I’m not so sure. Based on his review, I’ll have to head his advice to see it posthaste. Perhaps Dr. Wife and I can enjoy it over Christmas. I’m still planning on showing her Gremlins (1984).
Just a note—several of the links in this review are Amazon Affiliate links. I receive a portion of any purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you. I’ve marked these links with an asterisk (*).
With that, here is Ponty’s review of 1995’s The Usual Suspects:
Here are a couple of perennial Thanksgiving pieces for your enjoyment, dear readers:
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
The Portly Politico 