A quick Lazy Sunday today, dear readers, looking back at the recent Spring Concert. I’m looking forward to (God Willing) a relatively normal week of work!
Rock on—and Happy Sunday!
—TPP
My students had their big Spring Concert last night and it was incredible. It was the longest concert I’ve ever conducted, with over two hours of music. As it was my “swan song” of sorts, I wanted to go out with a bang.
I’ll have a full rundown of the concert—a “postmortem,” as I call it—this Saturday for paid subscribers. Suffice it to say that the evening went quite well and I am utterly exhausted. I did indulge in some late-night, post-concert Taco Bell, the greatest of budget fast food joints in the modern era (somehow, Taco Bell has avoided the “enshittification” of other establishments, even if the results of consuming it result in a different from of enshittification) before the long drive home.
Tonight’s the night! The big Spring Concert is finally here!
My school is giving its annual Spring Musical tonight. They’re doing a stage musical adaptation of Disney’s Descendants, which follows the lives of the children of the various Disney villains and heroes. It’s a cute little musical and it’s always cool seeing what our Drama teacher manages to put together.
The plot of the play itself, however, is classic modern Disney propaganda. It essentially presents a naïve view that evil is not a real threat; instead, it just needs to be neutralized with tolerance and a proper environment.
This past week was slammed with preparation for the Spring Fine Arts Festival, which commences tomorrow and culminates in my students’ Spring Concert on Tuesday. As such, I thought I’d look back at this past week:
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
This week the Drama kids have been rehearsing for the school play, which is this coming Monday (my students have their big Spring Concert this coming Tuesday, 28 April 2026). That means yours portly has been rehearsing with the kids this week.
I run the sound and lighting for these plays. It’s not too difficult, but it’s quite an undertaking nonetheless. I essentially do what would typically be done by three or four people, in that I mix the sound; play the sound cues; run the lights; and troubleshoot any sound and/or equipment issues that arise during the play.
Issues always seem to arise.
Two years ago I issued to my readers The TJC Challenge, a challenge to listen to all of my music on either Apple Music or YouTube/YouTube Music (you can do it on Spotify now, too). At the time, The TJC Challenge took about three hours to complete. Last year it took around seven-and-a-half hours.
Now it takes (approximately) eight hours and fifty-five minutes—let’s call it nine (9) hours to listen to my full discography. Note that only includes the stuff on the streaming platforms (twenty-three releases, although Electrock Music and Electrock II: Space Rock are combined as a double-album on streaming platforms, so technically it’s twenty-four releases); my Bandcamp page has thirty releases (use promo code challenge to get 90% off any purchase there through 11:59 PM UTC on 30 April 2026).
So, need some unusual instrumental jams (plus my singer-songwriter comedy EP, Contest Winner) to get you through the workday? Then take The TJC Challenge!
Instructions for how to do so are below, but here’s the YouTube instructions, as they’re probably the most accessible for most readers/listeners:
YouTube Method
Don’t use Apple Music? No problem. The cheapest method (no monthly subscription to a streaming service) is via YouTube. The only downside is that there’s no way to play through all albums without having to select individual releases.
Still, here’s the YouTube method:
Hover over one the album you’d like to listen to first and click “Play All”
Rinse and repeat for each album
Whatever you listen to, I hope you enjoy! If you do listen to my tunes, please let me know what you think.
With that, here is 24 April 2025’s “TBT: The TJC Challenge“:
It’s a quick installment of New Music Tuesday today, friends. I’m working on a piece called “Japanese Trapdoor Snails”; I’m attempting to capture a quintessentially “Japanese” sound, although I’m not sure if I’m succeeding just yet.
It’s for flute, oboe, classical guitar, and drums (so far). I’ll likely continue to add instrumentation as needed.
Here’s a thirty-second bit of what I have so far:
Still a bit static, but what do you think of this odd little piece in its current form? Does it have legs—or one big, fat, muscular belly-foot?
Happy Listening!
—TPP
The school year is in its last legs, and soon yours portly will be transitioning to his new life of once-a-week chaplaincy and quasi-full-time writing. After my reaccreditation team visit (see below), I’ve been reflecting more and more about education; it seemed like a good time to look back at some posts on the topic:
Happy Sunday!
—TPP
Yours portly is running on fumes, and it’s totally self-inflicted. I usually go to bed around 9:30 or 10 PM for a 5:45 AMish wakeup. Lately, I’ve been staying up until midnight while still dragging out of bed. It’s not because I’m losing myself in composing or writing (as today’s ultra-self-indulgent post demonstrates); it’s because I’ve been playing Old World.
Since moving to the new house, my commute is forty-five minutes one way. I teach lessons most days until about 5 PM, after which I spend about thirty minutes updating my budget, prepping for the next day, and catching up on all the e-mails and comments and such I’ve missed while in afternoon classes. By the time I get home, it’s already after 6 PM, even later if I have to get groceries. Then it’s whatever chores and such I need to knock out around the house.
But the bug of late-night gaming has hit hard with Old World. After everything is done and I’m finally unwinding for the night, it’s around 9 PM. That’s a dangerous time to start playing an immersive 4X strategy game, because what starts as “I’ll just play for an hour” turns into three hours. Sometimes “just one more turn” will morph into another thirty minutes of playing, as that “one” turns evolves into four or five (I’ve figured out that a turn in Old World, even in the midgame, takes about five minutes).
