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.
Tag: music
Flashback Friday^16: Brack Friday Bunduru: Workers Need a Break
When I first wrote about workers needed Thanksgiving Day off, I was experiencing pretty severe burnout myself. I do still believe that the Black Friday creeping into Thanksgiving is reprehensible, but I also realize my own stress was playing a role in my analysis.
Of course, this Black Friday I’m bunduru’d with Dr. Wife on the high seas, so I’m absolutely getting a break. Indeed, I might be eating pizza covered in gravy and leftover turkey from last night’s onboard Thanksgiving feast (I assume we had one; I’m writing this post way beforehand). While I’m enjoying the Thanksgiving Lover’s Pizza, though, millions are schlepping into retail stores at 4 AM to help grannies save pennies on toaster ovens.
Well, who doesn’t love a good deal? But a better deal would be shuttering retailers all day on Thanksgiving so employees can rest up and spend time with family before being berated by penny-pinching Karens.
With that, here is 25 November 2022’s “Flashback Friday^4: Brack Friday Bunduru: Workers Need a Break“:
Open Mic Adventures CLVI: “March of the Goliath Beetles”
I have a lot of great bass guitarists in my Music Ensemble classes, and I have always wanted to experiment with an electric bass ensemble—a small chamber group consisting entirely of electric basses. I think it can be done (and probably has been done, if I took three seconds to Google it).
The challenge with basses is that those low tones can get awfully muddy, so composing for multiples of the instrument requires exploring the full breadth of the fret board.
Today’s piece, which I deem to be incomplete (although it does have a satisfying conclusion), is one such attempt at blending three basses into one. I have yet to try this piece with my three High School Music Ensemble bassists, but I have worked individual parts with them with me playing one of the other parts. I’m excited to see how and if the three will blend in Reality as well as they do in digital form.
TBT: Bake Sale Boogie
A key component of music education specifically and private education more broadly is the necessity to fundraise for necessary equipment. Last year, my Music Ensemble students organized a bake sale that—Praise the Lord!—far exceeded our expectations. We raised enough to buy new drum heads and cymbals, and it was a great bonding experience for the student-musicians.
With all the wedding and house stuff this year, I did not get the bake sale on the calendar for this fall, but perhaps we’ll be able to do in January or February. A Valentine’s bake sale might be a good idea!
With that, here is 20 November 2024’s “Bake Sale Boogie”:
Open Mic Adventures CLV: “Fugal Fantasia”
My composing has slowed to a crawl lately and my live performances are pretty much nonexistent, but I managed to squeeze out a fresh composition last week, a little bit of fugue-like brassiness for your fantastical enjoyment.
Open Mic Adventures CLIV: “Aachen Cathedral Chorale”
This week I’m digging up an older piece that invokes (in my mind) the ancient traditions of medieval Europe.
SubscribeStar Saturday: Spooktaculer 2025 Review
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Well, the 2025 Spooktacular is in the books. My neighbor called it “the last bachelor Spooktacular,” as it’s the last front porch recital before my wedding. It is also distinct in that it is very likely the last front porch recital at my current home, as Dr. Fiancée and I are in the process of purchasing a home. Of course, if my house lingers on the market for an extended period—a distinct possibility in my rural community—we could see a Spring Jam in Lamar in May 2026. We shall see!
But I digress. The “last bachelor Spooktacular” was truly a bachelor’s endeavor. None of my family could attend, and Dr. Fiancée was both sick and up the entire night before on-call. That meant yours portly had to take care of the preparations solo.
Fortunately, I’d gotten a head-start by working around the house each night after work. By the time last Saturday rolled around, however, I was absolutely wiped out, and slept in until after 11 AM—a rarity for me. Dr. Fiancée suspects that I was sick (I repeated the sleeping-in feat the following day), and I had been fighting off a cold most of the week, but even with my delayed start, I managed to get everything done. I even made my Mom’s legendary Rotel dip, which consists of melting vast quantities of Velveeta “cheese” product and mixing it with two cans of Rotel diced tomatoes and green chilis. I apparently did it right, because it was a hit.
Regardless, there was still a good bit to do in the yard and on the front porch. I’m not exactly big on regular cleaning—another quality of my rapidly expiring bachelorhood—and my front porch was looking pretty forlorn. The yard itself was a bit rough, but my neighbor had mowed it earlier in the week, so I mainly just had to deal with the flower beds and some pruning.
It was a day of little things going awry. For example, I grill hot dogs for the festivities. My grill had plenty of propane, but the electric starter wouldn’t work. When I went to get a stem lighter to light the grill manually, the lighter was out of butane. I couldn’t locate any matches, so I surrendered and decided to boil the hot dogs (on the plus side, my grill got a good cleaning). When I made the Rotel dip, I had the heat too high and some of the cheesy goo bubbled over onto my stove. John’s PA had a faulty cable—and so on.
But, in spite of it all—and I was more stressed than this post is letting on—the event was a success.
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Spooky Season IV
Hi all,
Spooky Season IV is out now. Get it for 30% off with promo code ghost.
That’s all I’ve got today.
Happy Listening!
—TPP
Spooktacular 2025 is Tonight!
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Tonight’s the night—the 2025 Spooktacular! My students have been working hard on their solos, and it should be a fun night.
I have done a concert around Halloween for years, and started calling it the “TJC Spooktacular” in 2019. At that point, it was pretty much a solo show, with my buddy John hopping on to accompany me on a few tunes (or for me to accompany him).
During The Age of The Virus, I couldn’t find a venue that would book live music, largely due to concerns about big groups of people in a confined space. So I conceived of turning my front lawn into a seating area and my porch into a stage. Thus, the Spooktacular in its modern iteration was born.
That first front porch Spooktacular in 2020 was not a recital for my private music students, but was instead a more self-indulgent concert: John and I missed playing live music. I also paid a couple of groups to perform as openers: one of my students and his punk band—their first live gig—and two of my open mic music friends.
Then I began to transition towards the Spooktacular being a recital for my students. That helped to attract more people to the event, but also shifted the tone away from “raucous-but-mild-Halloween party” to “family-friendly Halloween party.” The original Spooktacular was never bacchanalian, but the current recital version is much more focused on family fun. The costume contest also seems to be a big hit among the little ones, too.
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Open Mic Adventures CLIII: “Lime Ghost”
I’m still waiting to hear from CD Baby that they’ve approved my latest release, Spooky Season IV. They have gotten super slow with approving albums now that they’re charging extra for fast-tracked approval. Boooooooooooooo!
Regardless, here’s another track from the upcoming-at-some-point album:
The Portly Politico 