Tag: analysis

Midweek Novella Review: Opium Tales: Son of an Incubus

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Roman Riva of Opium Tales and I had a great interview last night; catch it here: https://open.substack.com/live-stream/399308

I’m continuing to review the novellas adapted from Roman and Anna Riva’s planned animated series, Opium Tales (which doubles as Roman’s Substack moniker and publication). I’ve followed Roman’s work for years, and when I found out he and his wife had a series of short novellas in print—and that they are all, save one, under $8—I snapped them up and decided to review them one-by-one.

So far, I’ve reviewed Humpty Dumpty, A Pirate’s Tale, and The Staff (those are Affiliate links—more of them below—so I receive a portion of any purchases made through those links, at no additional cost to you); at the moment, A Pirate’s Tale remains my favorite followed by Humpty Dumpty and The Staff.

According to the introduction of each volume, Roman and Anna sought, but failed to procure, funding for an animated series called Opium Tales. They hoped to call it Dark Tales, but the name was taken, so they leaned into the opium habits of early eighteenth-century Romantics and landed on Opium Tales. Since they still had all the rights to their stories, they decided to publish them as a series of novellas.

Here is the series—or, at least the volumes I purchased (the following are Amazon Affiliate links; I receive a portion of any purchase made through these links, at no additional cost to you):

The entire series is (as of the time of writing) $46.94 before tax, so these are easy to scoop up in one fell swoop.

I reached out to Roman to ask which story should be read fourth, and he suggested I read one that his wife, Anna, took the lead on writing. Instead, I just grabbed the next one on top of my stack, Son of an Incubus, and I’m pretty sure it’s one of Roman’s based on the writing style. Sorry, Anna!

Son of an Incubus is definitely the oddest of the tales so far, and based on the ending, it’s clearly meant to be one of a series of episodes featuring the characters Greta and Clafigan, our heroes. Greta is a feisty witch with a strong independent streak; Clafigan is a knight-in-training, the son of old Crusader, who puts up with Greta’s outbursts with patience and humility. It’s quite clear that Clafigan loves Greta, but from a respectful distance.

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Monday Morning Movie Review: Primetime (2026)

The Portly Politico2 Comments

It’s wild to think how different the world was just twenty years ago. The Internet in the early 2000s was in this weird, fun phase between the DIY ethos of the 1990s and the then-emerging-but-still-scrappy social media juggernauts of today. I first learned about YouTube from a print article in Newsweek, of all places, around that time. Sure, there was content online, but mostly text; slower connections meant that video wasn’t so easily obtained (getting to college in 2003 and experiencing truly high-speed Internet for the first time was life-changing).

In other words, cable television was still king. Indeed, it was something of a golden age—or, perhaps, a dark age—of trashy reality television. Survivor was an international phenomenon. MTV stopped playing music videos and just showed annoying youths screeching at each other in luxury houses. Watching shows about people shopping for houses in those pre-Great Recession days was a national pastime.

In retrospect, reality television was something of a precursor to modern YouTube, in which audiences formed parasocial bonds with television hosts. Sure, the possibility for engagement was far more remote, but people got really into those shows. But the cultural power was far greater, because everything was filtered through the Big Three networks—ABC, CBS, and NBC—and a host of related channels. Everyone was talking about, say, Lost or The Office at work; media journalists called these “water cooler shows,” because everyone would discuss them at the water cooler the next day. “Appointment viewing” was another term, because you couldn’t just watch a show whenever you wanted to—you had to watch it live or wait for a rerun. Ergo, if you wanted to be up on things at the water cooler, you had to keep your appointment!

The fewer options combined with rigid airing schedules meant that far more people were watching the same programming. The kind of scattershot fracturing of media we experience now was not really a problem. Sure, there were tons of channels and you could watch one of those instead of whatever the hit show was, and plenty of folks did; but so many people wanted to be in on the conversation. There wasn’t just a parasocial relationship with television hosts or characters; there was a social element to television.

It also meant that shows were competing for eyeballs in the same finite time blocks. TiVo and DVRs alleviated this competition slightly, as you could record one show while watching another in the same block, but it wasn’t like you could hop on YouTube and watch tons of show clips or sports highlight reels or the news.

Little did we realize it at the time, but the era of cable television’s dominance was swiftly ending. For that moment, though, it seemed stronger than ever (perhaps there’s a lesson there), and the competition for the top ratings was fierce.

The king of primetime (or, at least, one of the jester-princes of the era) was investigative journalist Chris Hansen, who’s iconic phrase “why don’t you have a seat” became one of the earliest memes. Those words meant that a degenerate pervert was about to get his comeuppance.

As morally satisfying as the show was, there was always something a bit sleazy about it (and not just because grown men were attempting to engage in illegal acts with minors), and the new A24 film Primetime (2026) explores the darker side of the program.

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Midweek Novella Review: Opium Tales: The Staff

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

I’m continuing to review the novellas adapted from Roman and Anna Riva’s planned animated series, Opium Tales (which doubles as Roman’s Substack moniker and publication). I’ve followed Roman’s work for years, and he has grown an impressive and active presence on Substack. When I found out he and his wife had a series of short novellas in print—and that they are all, save one, under $8—I snapped them up and decided to review them one-by-one.

Last week, I reviewed the second book in the series, A Pirate’s Tale (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link—more of them below—so I receive a portion of any purchase made through that link, at no additional cost to you). As I wrote last week, the novella is “a full-on swashbuckling adventure in the vein of (as the Rivas point out in their introduction) the Pirates of the Caribbean films.”

According to the introduction of each volume, Roman and Anna sought, but failed to procure, funding for an animated series called Opium Tales. They hoped to call it Dark Tales, but the name was taken, so they leaned into the opium habits of early eighteenth-century Romantics and landed on Opium Tales. Since they still had all the rights to their stories, they decided to publish them as a series of novellas.

Here is the series—or, at least the volumes I purchased (the following are Amazon Affiliate links; I receive a portion of any purchase made through these links, at no additional cost to you):

The entire series is (as of the time of writing) $46.94 before tax, so these are easy to scoop up in one fell swoop.

I was unclear which novella came third in the sequence, so I went to the source and asked Roman himself. He told me to read The Staff next. I’ve been on the road a ton lately with some SCISA work and to pick up our new puppy, and was worried I might not have a chance to read The Staff in time of this Wednesday, but Tuesday afternoon presented an opportunity with both dogs napping on the couch—and yours portly cracking open a book starring a clever thief with a heart as golden as the afternoon sunlight streaming into our sunroom.

So far, A Pirate’s Tale remains my favorite, but I’m a sucker for a pirate setting. The Staff is a close second, though, as I’m also a sucker for a skilled rogue who is experienced as a second-story man or cat burglar, the kind of guy who can get into impossible places with seeming ease. The Staff presents us with such a protagonist, the unnamed “thief,” who must retrieve a powerful staff as ransom for his lovely new bride, Katherine.

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Midweek Novella Review: Opium Tales: A Pirate’s Tale

The Portly Politico1 Comment

For the next few weeks I’m going to review the novellas adapted from Roman and Anna Riva’s planned animated series, Opium Tales (which doubles as Roman’s Substack moniker and publication). I’ve followed Roman’s work for years, and it’s refreshing to see his active presence on Substack. When I found out he and his wife had a series of short novellas in print—and that they are all, save one, under $8.

Last week, I reviewed the first book in the series, Humpty Dumpty (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link—more of them below—so I receive a portion of any purchase made through that link, at no additional cost to you).

According to the introduction of each volume, Roman and Anna sought, but failed to procure, funding for an animated series called Opium Tales. They hoped to call it Dark Tales, but the name was taken, so they leaned into the opium habits of early eighteenth-century Romantics and landed on Opium Tales. Since they still had all the rights to their stories, they decided to publish them as a series of novellas.

Here is the series—or, at least the volumes I purchased; if I’m missing one, please let me know, Roman (the following are Amazon Affiliate links; I receive a portion of any purchase made through these links, at no additional cost to you):

The entire series is (as of the time of writing) $46.94 before tax, so these are easy to scoop up in one fell swoop.

According to is introduction, A Pirate’s Tale was intended to be the second installment in the animated series. Indeed, there was some debate between it or Humpty Dumpty being the pilot episode, but H. Dumps won out due to name recognition. That move seems wise, as HD strongly establishes the series’ foundation in European folklore and fairy tales, so a classic nursery rhyme turned into a dark tale of corruption and excess was the fitting choice.

That said, A Pirate’s Tale is my favorite between the two. While I loved what HD did with the source material, A Pirate’s Tale is a full-on swashbuckling adventure in the vein of (as the Rivas point out in their introduction) the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

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SubscribeStar Saturday: SCISA Talk 2: DIY Garage Band Music Ensemble

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.

Yesterday (Friday, 18 September 2026), I attended the SCISA Teachers’ Conference. I presented two sessions, one about creating a “DIY Garage Band Music Ensemble” from scratch, the other about teaching private music lessons to supplement your income.

I always like to have prepared remarks for any public speaking, so I’ve put together the following. The slides for this talk and the one whose text I shared last week are linked above.

For now, here’s “DIY Garage Band Music Ensemble”:

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

Midweek Novella Review: Opium Tales: Humpty Dumpty

The Portly Politico2 Comments

For the next few weeks I’m going to review the novellas adapted from Roman and Anna Riva’s planned animated series, Opium Tales (which doubles as Roman’s Substack moniker and publication). I’ve followed Roman’s work for years, and it’s refreshing to see his active presence on Substack. When I found out he and his wife had a series of short novellas in print—and that they are all, save one, under $8.

According to the introduction of each volume, Roman and Anna sought, but failed to procure, funding for an animated series called Opium Tales. They hoped to call it Dark Tales, but the name was taken, so they leaned into the opium habits of early eighteenth-century Romantics and landed on Opium Tales. Since they still had all the rights to their stories, they decided to publish them as a series of novellas.

Here is the series—or, at least the volumes I purchased; if I’m missing one, please let me know, Roman (the following are Amazon Affiliate links; I receive a portion of any purchase made through these links, at no additional cost to you):

The entire series is (as of the time of writing) $46.94 before tax, so these are easy to scoop up in one fell swoop.

According to is introduction, Humpty Dumpty was the first installment in the series, and intended to be the pilot episode of the animated series. It is a dark fantasy rendering in the spirit of the Brothers Grimm, in which H. Dumpty is not a clumsy egg, but instead a brutish feudal lord with dark appetites.

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Monday Morning Movie Review: Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026)

The Portly Politico7 Comments

While visiting my older brother the other weekend, we drove down to the AMC in Savannah, Georgia to catch Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026). I’m of the mind that if there is a Spider-Man movie, I must see it.

I’m not a huge comic book nerd (although I like them; I just don’t know all the deep lore and storylines and such), and I haven’t devoured hundreds of issues of Spider-Man comics, but I’ve always appreciated the character. Plus, my generation came of age with the Tobey Maguire flicks (directed by none other than Sam Raimi). I’ve heard it said that each generation has their Spider-Man; mine is Maguire (and my Mary Jane is Kirsten Dunst). Also, where else are you going to see Willem DaFoe lose his mind as a super villain (and not as just every other character he plays)?

That said, I love the character and his backstory. Spider-Man is basically a goofy kid with amazing powers who has to grow up fast and learn some hard lessons. He is duty-bound—“with great power comes great responsibility”—to protect those around him, even at great personal cost. Very often, Spider-Man doesn’t get the girl; sometimes, the girl gets killed!

That theme continues with the current iteration of Spider-Man as portrayed by the eternally boyish Tom Holland, albeit with a twist that I think Spider-Man: Brand New Day essentially nullifies.

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SubscribeStar Saturday: SCISA Talk 1: Supplement Your Income with Music Lessons

The Portly Politico1 Comment

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.

This Friday, 18 September 2026, I’ll be attending the SCISA Teachers’ Conference. I’ll be presenting two sessions, one about creating a “DIY Garage Band Music Program” from scratch, the other about teaching private music lessons.

I always like to have prepared remarks for any public speaking, so I’ve put together the following. I’m building a Google Slides presentation to go along with the prepared text, but it’s not quite done at the time of writing, so I’ll share that later.

For now, here’s “Supplement Your Income With Music Lessons”:

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

TBT^4: Remarkable Animals

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It’s been an animal-centric year for yours portly. Sweet Murphy crossed the rainbow bridge; Nugget is still going strong; and we’re likely adopting a puppy in a few weeks. The koi and other creatures are doing well—I even wrote an entire album about it (still 90% off with promo code koipond)—and our bird feeder continues to attract lots of birds—and lizards. I’ve seen a nasty skink slinking around, too.

That reminds me of this piece I wrote a few years ago, “Lament of the Lizardman“:

But I digress. It seemed apropos to reblog this series of posts about animals in all their glory.

With that, here is 11 September 2025’s “TBT^2: Remarkable Animals“:

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SubscribeStar Saturday: Clancy Mistrial

The Portly Politico5 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.

After lengthy deliberation on what should have been the most obvious verdict in human history, the jury came back hung in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. One heroic juror (almost certainly one of the three men on the jury) held out in the face of what must have been overwhelming pressure from his fellow jurors and, it seems, at least half of the country (and, sadly, a massive amount of women).

My younger brother sent me this video:

I agree with the caption: give that man the Nobel Peace Prize!

The only silver lining here is that Lindsay Clancy will still be held at the Tewksbury State Hospital until and/or if a retrial occurs. She won’t be roaming at large, looking for children to lure into her candy cottage in the woods (or whatever modern witches do other than strangling their own children to death). Had that man caved to the pressure, she’d be walking free, probably heading to Lowe’s to buy a cauldron suitable enough for cooking babies.

Of course, this outcome is still a miscarriage of justice, one that suggests the serious need to reconsider our approach to jury selection—and who is even eligible to serve.

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