Tag: Phone it in Friday

Phone it in Friday CXLVI: YouTube Roundup CCVI: Videos with the Ululating Guy in Them

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Okay, this week’s PiiF:YTR is a bit of a stretch, but it is Phone it in Friday, after all. Frankly, yours portly just hasn’t uploaded as much to YouTube as of late, and I’m trying to work ahead on the blog a bit, so here’s the harebrained “theme” for today: videos I’ve uploaded with a doodle of this guy:

I wish I was this passionate about ululating

For whatever reason, that weird, ululating guy has been working his way into my videos, which are admittedly fairly low-effort, and really just vehicles for pushing my original music, which is slightly less low-effort than the videos themselves.

Perhaps it’s his striking blue eye—the result of using this cool pen Dr. Wife got me (it’s actually a whole set of metallic-colored pens)—which looks like a spice-addled denizen of the various Dune novels. Maybe it’s his baggy yellow jumpsuit, which seems to harken back to the parachute pants of MC Hammer.

Or maybe it’s just that it was conveniently located on my phone when I needed some images to slap into my little movie maker app.

Whatever the reason, that guy has popped up in a couple of my recent videos. Let’s look back on his illustrious career as some manner of ill-defined religious zealot:

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Phone it in Friday CXLV: YouTube Roundup CCV: Link’s Awakening Music

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I’ve been playing through Link’s Awakening on my Zelda Game & Watch again, and recently got to the portion where Marin sings “The Ballad of the Windfish” for the residents of the Animal Village. I also finally figured out how to get this frog dude—whose sprite is directly from Super Mario Bros. 2—to sing his crazy, discordant tune. I filmed both scenes on my iPhone SE’s camera and posted them to YouTube with a little text commentary sprinkled in for good measure.

You can purchase a Zelda Game & Watch here (the following is an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through this link, at no additional cost to you): https://amzn.to/3SGkl1X

I highly recommend grabbing one; it’s amazing having Zelda games in your coat pocket!

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Lazy Sunday CDIV: Witch

The Portly Politico3 Comments

I’m fairly convinced that Lindsay Clancy is a witch who sacrificed her children to Satan. Can I prove that? Absolutely not. Does it make sense? Probably more than post-partum psychosis. I believe that post-partum psychosis is real, but the devil had his hand in the infanticide of those children one way or another.

Regardless, I decided to link to my two recent posts on Clancy and her recent trial. More uplifting content to come.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Lazy Sunday CDIII: Bird Feeder Follies

The Portly Politico2 Comments

Our bird feeder has been a source of much amusement and joy. It’s also yielded some fun YouTube content!

This Sunday, here’s a look back at some recent posts featuring our fine-feathered friends (and Nugget and a lizard):

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Phone it in Friday CXLIII: YouTube Roundup CCIII: The Lizard Who Thinks He’s a Bird

The Portly Politico2 Comments

Our little ten-dollar bird feeder has been a real blessing. We get to see all sorts of cardinals, finches, and wrens. Because our sunroom windows are tinted, we can get really close to the window to observe the birds.

What I wasn’t expecting was to find a lizard—probably an anole—hanging out in our bird feeder one day last week! And what’s remarkable is that the little guy has popped up on the feeder a few times since then.

Swoosh!

What’s it like when a lizard thinks it’s a bird? Do lizards pursue alternative lifestyles? Or is this lizard just beating the heat with some free food?

Let’s watch, shall we?

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white ringed flycatchers perching on a branch

Phone it in Friday CXLII: YouTube Roundup CCII: Nugget and the Birds

The Portly Politico6 Comments

Remember Gumby? He was that green, bipedal, Claymation humanoid with the orange pony, Pokey. I always liked Gumby and his amorphous, shape-shifting ways.

Apparently, our three-legged dog, Nugget, has beef with the Gumbster. She has a Gumby toy that she loves to shake around. Lately, she’s been pulling Gumby’s soft inner fluff out the poor fellow, and yours portly ends up being the one picking it up. Perhaps Nugget is trying to get me to exercise a bit more.

What Nugget has not been mauling—thankfully—are the birds that come to our bird feeder. I bought a ten-dollar bird feeder at Lowe’s and hung it with a nail outside of our sunroom. Dr. Wife loves the birds, especially Peepers (a female cardinal) and her “boyfriend,” Big Red (a male cardinal).

What’s cool is that the birds are so enamored with their treats, they’ll let me walk right up to the window and look at them. I can get some pictures of them, although they tend to come out a little dark thanks to the UV coating we have over the windows. One day I’ll do a post of nothing but bird pictures (and my self-indulgent commentary).

Today is not that day. Instead, I’ll be sharing a video of a cute bird eating—and of Nugget locked in battle with her Claymation foe:

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Phone it in Friday CXLI: YouTube Roundup CCI: Loaches and Water Treatment

The Portly Politico2 Comments

Koi Dance is out now on all streaming platforms and at https://tjcookmusic.bandcamp.com. It’s 90% off (!) with promo code koipond. That means it’s $1 for twelve tracks of great music (and that promo code is also good for everything on the site).

The intense summer heat has kept the fish deeper underwater, where they can escape the sun and enjoy cooler temperatures. Even the rosy red minnows, who usually swarm any food we toss into the pond, have been more taciturn of late. It had me a bit worried, but water testing indicates that everything looks good. I imagine we’ll see more activity once temperatures began to back off… in late November—ha!

That said, we’ve had a few fun sightings. One of our intrepid loaches has been making himself known, and it’s always fun seeing those weird, goofy-looking critters near the surface.

Loaches typically live at the bottom of the pond, and like to burrow into the dirty substrate. They eat food that’s fallen to the bottom and generally feed on detritus and what not. But they will surface in response to barometric changes, and we have at least one that loves to explore (I’m pretty sure he’s the same one I saw wriggling around in the filter basket one morning; my attempts to relocate him were marginally successful). It’s always super fun seeing them in the ivy, which our big yellow koi, Sunny, also seems to enjoy.

So it is that I have loach-related videos for you today, as well as one kind of boring update about the unsexy side of pond management.

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Phone it in Friday CXL: YouTube Roundup CC: Murphy’s Last Video

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My late dog Murphy was something of a minor Internet celebrity. She was known as “The Greater North American Bull Terrier” on YouTube, and I have dozens of videos of her frolicking and being ornery and cute.

The day before we took her to put her to sleep, I filmed this short video of her waking up. She was doing better because she was shot full of medicine from her visit to the emergency vet the night before, so it was nice to see her somewhat comfortable one last time.

Even at thirteen, she was such a cute dog. I still miss her deeply, but the pain is fading. I’ll never forget her, though!

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Lazy Sunday CCCXCVIII: Cruise Stuff

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

It’s been nice being back home (even though it was a sad start to last week), but I did enjoy our cruise. I’ve finally lost my “sea legs,” but I’m looking forward to another in the future, although I imagine it’ll be a bit before out next one. That said, I thought I’d share some recent cruise posts:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP