Somehow, some of my most popular content on YouTube has been very short videos of public transportation. No, they aren’t people behaving badly on mass transit; they’re literally just videos of various modes of transport.
Perhaps I’ve tapped into some strange niche. Or maybe the algorithm just liked that I was posting videos from more populous regions during my recent trip to Indianapolis.
Regardless, here are some trains and planes (no automobiles, sorry) for your enjoyment:
Fifteen years ago today, on 4 July 2010, my old brass band, Brass to the Future, played an outdoor concert in a park in my hometown of Aiken, South Carolina. It was a bit of a “guerrilla” concert, in that we did not ask permission, but just showed up in the park and started playing for our fans.
In the spirit of Independence Day, I’m featuring rare footage from that concert today.
I’ve been experimenting a bit with stop motion animation—and I use that term quite loosely—with some of my LEGO figurines. On a whim, I filmed a little Ewok minifigure proclaiming it’s “Ewok Summer,” and from there I experimented with a couple of other YouTube shorts.
I edited all of these “in-camera,” meaning that I just clicked “pause” on my iPhone’s camera mid-recording and hit “record” again. The last of the three was the most involved, in which I tried to click “pause” and “record” in a rhythm. You can tell when I lingered on a shot a bit longer than intended, but for a hyper-amateurish effort, I like how the third one materialized.
Finally, the music in the second and third videos is a track called “Hey Sailor”; it’s a royalty-free YouTube track. I haven’t figured out yet how to put my music into these videos, but eventually I will and I’ll do so.
Now, on with the Ewok Summer Trilogy!
In a continuing celebration of my chunky dog Murphy’s twelfth birthday, I’ve got some more Murphy videos for your enjoyment. These videos are feature Murphy doing what she does best (besides eating): lounging like a French duchess.
My old bull terrier, Murphy, turns twelve this Sunday, 15 June 2025. I adopted Murphy when she was eight, so we’ve been together for nearly four years.
After a bit of a hiatus, I have some fun new Murphy videos. She is doing very well for her age, but the old girl is slowing down a bit. She can handle stairs fine, but sometimes she has to do them at her pace.
So, settle in for a couple of videos of Murphy in her battle against steps (and canine aging):
I got this little Ewok LEGO minifigure in one of the Advent Calendars, and I have found I enjoy making humorous shorts of him (well, two so far—but more to come). I wouldn’t call it true “stop motion animation“—I’m much too lazy and busy for that—but it’s super fun. Today, I’m sharing some of my little Ewok videos.
A common custom here in the Southern United States is to have your yard littered with old cars that won’t run. Through a combination of excessive agreeableness and excessive laziness, I had two old junkers on my property until recently: my old 2006 Dodge Caravan, and a late colleague’s 2003 Saturn L200.
I commemorated the departure of both vehicles before the junk car guy came and picked them up (and I pocketed a sweet $240 for each of them). Here are those short videos:
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Yours portly is playing saxophone for a client and his wife this evening; the happy couple is celebrating their first anniversary, and the client has booked me to play a song or two as a surprise for his wife.
Naturally, he asked for videos of me playing two pieces so he could get an idea for what he will be getting, and just as naturally, I turned those into YouTube videos for my subscribers.
Now you, my dear readers, will get to hear some sensual, soulful saxophone solos:
Yours portly recently dug into his Drawer of Forgotten Technology and found some unusual bits of ancient alien (well, human) technology. I’m currently trying to sell them on eBay (here and here). In writing their listings, I made short little videos and uploaded them to YouTube; I want to share those videos today.
I wrote extensively about this technology on Wednesday in my post “Ancient Alien Technology“; now, here are the promised videos.
The Portly Politico 