Tag: Products

Flashback Friday^16: Brack Friday Bunduru: Workers Need a Break

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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“:

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October 2025 Bandcamp Friday!

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Pickup my newest releases, Säx and Electrock III: Euroclydon, and Triple Deluxe!  Spooky Season IV is coming soon, too!

Want to play the sax?  Read my ultimate guide to getting started for under $350.

Wanna be utterly perplexed while laughing uproariously?  Grab a copy of my first book, The One-Minute Mysteries of Inspector Gerard: The Ultimate Flatfoot (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link, so I’ll receive a portion of any purchase made through that link, at no additional cost to you—plus I’ll get the book royalties).

Today is Bandcamp Friday, when Bandcamp doesn’t take it’s usual 15% cut of proceeds from sales.  It’s a great time to purchase tunes from yours portly.

My latest EP, Säx, released last month, as did two full-length albums, Electrock III: Euroclydon and Triple Deluxe.

My full discography typically goes for $87.64.  Considering it’s twenty-nine (29) releases, some of which are not available on streaming platforms, that’s pretty good—and just $3.02 per release!

Thanks for your support!  And if you haven’t already, check out my YouTube series 31 Days of Halloween.

Happy Friday!

—TPP

September 2025 Bandcamp Friday!

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Pickup my newest releases, Säx and Electrock III: Euroclydon!  Get 50% off with promo code storm.  That’s 50% off ANYTHING and EVERYTHING on my Bandcamp page, including the album, full discography purchases, merch, etc.!

Want to play the sax?  Read my ultimate guide to getting started for under $350.

Wanna be utterly perplexed while laughing uproariously?  Grab a copy of my first book, The One-Minute Mysteries of Inspector Gerard: The Ultimate Flatfoot (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link, so I’ll receive a portion of any purchase made through that link, at no additional cost to you—plus I’ll get the book royalties).

My latest EP, Säx, released earlier this week, as did a full-length album, Electrock III: Euroclydon.  They’re normally $9 and $12, respectively with promo code storm they’re only $4.50 and $6, respectively.

My full discography typically goes for $82.64, but with promo code storm it’s $41.32, or roughly $1.48 per release.  Twenty-eight albums, constituting of over nine hours of music, for $1.48 per release is ludicrous.

But it’s even better—if you purchase anything from Bandcamp today (Friday, 5 September 2025), Bandcamp does not take their 15% cut.  I get more money, and you get insane amounts of music for pennies on the dollar.  That’s the beauty of Bandcamp Friday!

As I detailed some weeks ago, yours portly needs your financial support.  Purchasing my music is one way you can help—and enjoy some enigmatic tunes in the process!

Happy Friday!

—TPP

TBT^4: Zelda Game & Watch

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On 2 May 2022 I purchased the legendary Zelda Game & Watch by Nintendo (that link is an Amazon Affiliate link, which means I receive a portion of any purchases made through that link, at no additional cost to you).  It’s a small, handheld device that has the first Zelda games, as well as the Gameboy’s classic Link’s Awakening.  It also functions as a clock, which is kind of cool, too.

I wrote a very long post about the unit back on 31 May 2022, lovingly detailing the wild nostalgia trip the unit sparked.  Honestly, 2022 seems like the distant past, and it was only three years ago!  Regardless, I still have the unit, and while I am clearing out a lot of my old technology, I don’t have any immediate plans to sell this bad boy.

If you’re a gamer and you appreciate the classic Zelda games, I highly recommend you grab the unit.  It’s currently $53.93 on Amazon (again, that’s an affiliate link), but it’s worth every penny.  Considering most video games now are at least $60 brand new, that’s a steal.

Or you can live vicariously through this massive reblog for free.

With that, here is 23 May 2024’s “TBT^2: Zelda Game & Watch“:

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May 2025 Bandcamp Friday!

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Pickup my newest release, Leftovers IV!  Get 80% off with promo code ham.  That’s 80% off ANYTHING and EVERYTHING on my Bandcamp page, including the album, full discography purchases, merch, etc.!

Want to play the sax?  Read my ultimate guide to getting started for under $350.

Wanna be utterly perplexed while laughing uproariously?  Grab a copy of my first book, The One-Minute Mysteries of Inspector Gerard: The Ultimate Flatfoot (that’s an Amazon Affiliate link, so I’ll receive a portion of any purchase made through that link, at no additional cost to you—plus I’ll get the book royalties).

My latest EP, Leftovers IV, released a couple of weeks ago.  It’s $5, but with promo code ham it’s only $1.  My full discography typically goes for $72.14, but with promo code ham it’s $14.23, or roughly $0.55 per release.  Twenty-six albums, constituting over eight hours of music, for $0.55 per release is ludicrous.

But it’s even better—if you purchase anything from Bandcamp today (Friday, 2 May 2025), Bandcamp does not take their 15% cut.  I get more money, and you get insane amounts of music for pennies on the dollar.  That’s the beauty of Bandcamp Friday!

As I detailed a few weeks ago, yours portly needs your financial support.  Purchasing my music is one way you can help—and enjoy some enigmatic tunes in the process!

Happy Friday!

—TPP

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Short Sax Starter Pack Recommendation

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My students and I will head to the annual SCISA Music Festival tomorrow, and I’ve been trying lately to book more gigs playing the saxophone, and it’s gotten me thinking about the Slade alto saxophone I purchased last year (that link—and most of the others in this post—is an Amazon Affiliate link; I receive a portion of any purchases made through that and other links, at no additional cost to you).  It’s been a very good saxophone, and I’m prepared to recommend it to potential budget sax shoppers, with one major caveat.

This post is intended as a guide for parents looking to buy an affordable alto saxophone for their child, or for a later-in-life beginner who wants to get into the instrument without too much cost.  If you follow my advice, you should be able to kit yourself or your child out with a decent, budget load-out for under $350.

For those of you stumbling upon this post, I’ll briefly introduce myself:  I’ve been playing saxophone for nearly thirty years, and have been teaching music nearly full-time for fifteen years.  I also teach a ton of private music lessons, and have helped a number of families find affordable, quality instruments over the years.  I’m not a pro saxophonist, but I know a lot about them, and I love the instrument.

A quick note:  many school music programs will have a rental program set up with a local music shop.  These rental programs are not worth it.  You’ll end up spending way more money over time, even if you’re doing a rent-to-own situation.  If money is an issue, set aside $50 a month for six months, and you’ll be able to afford everything I’m recommending here.  Save another $25, and you’ll be able to afford the reeds I’m recommending (the Slade comes with reeds; more on that below).  If you child is starting band in the fall, start saving now, and you’ll be fine by September.

I detail the pros and cons of the sax and various accessories.  For my list of recommended items to purchase (the sax and accessories), scroll to the bottom of the post.

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Bandcamp Friday is Back; 🌌🐴The Galactic Menagerie🐴🌌 Out Now!

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Pickup my newest release: The Galactic Menagerie!  Use promo code obesekangaroos to take an additional 20% off all purchases on Bandcamp!  Code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Friday, 4 April 2025.

Bandcamp Friday is back in 2025, which means I hope you will consider pitching in a few bucks to buy my music—or my second book!  It’s the most magical Friday of the month!

The first Friday of a bunch of months in 2024 will feature this pro-indie music observance, a day on which Bandcamp waives its usual 15% commission on sales.  Today (Friday, 7 March 2025) is the first Bandcamp Friday of the year.

In other words, when you buy my music, almost 100% of it goes to me, instead of almost 85%.

My newest release, The Galactic Menagerie, is also out today on Bandcamp and—God Willing!—all streaming platforms.  My distributor, CD Baby, took a bit longer than usual to approve the release, so I did not receive word that the files had been sent to streaming platforms until Wednesday, 5 March 2025—just two days ago!  If TGM is not on  your streaming service of choice today, my apologies; it should pop up soon.

The Galactic Menagerie is my tribute to Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (1835-1921) and his masterful zoological suite, The Carnival of the Animals (Le Carnaval des animaux). It’s a wild ride through an intergalactic zoo consisting of playful Earth animals.

My full discography is 50% off (and the 20% promo code obesekangaroos can be used for that, too), so it’s only $69.64 to purchase twenty-five (25) releases.  That’s just $2.79 per release—and dozens of hours of music, not to mention thousands of megabytes of musical scores, artwork, liner notes, videos, and other goodies that are packed into nearly every release.

With the 20% promo code obesekangaroos the total comes down to $55.71, or $2.23 per release.

Thank you for your support, and rock on!

—TPP

TBT^4: Getting Medieval… with LEGO

The Portly Politico2 Comments

Yours portly is forty-years old, but still suffers from a crippling LEGO habit.  Perhaps my saving grace is that I am so busy, I don’t have much time to sit down and assemble these massive LEGO sets.  I have some awesome ones from Christmas that I still need to dig into and build.

My first really big set meant for “adults” was the one featured in this old piece.  It’s a pretty cool “medieval” blacksmith’s shop.  It was an absolute blast to build, and took me several hours across a couple of days.

Note that the posts below may contain Amazon Affiliate links; I honestly can’t remember.  If they are there, and you make a purchase through those links, I get a portion of the proceeds, at no additional cost to you.  Amazon requires me to write that, so I’m covering my butt to appease a corporate megalodon.

With that, here is 8 February 2024’s “TBT^2: Getting Medieval… with LEGO“:

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December 2024 Bandcamp Friday

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Pickup my newest release: Leftovers III!  Use promo code ziggurat to take an additional 20% off all purchases on Bandcamp!  Code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Tuesday, 31 December 2024.

Ah, yes, Bandcamp Friday has returned, which means I hope you will consider pitching in a few bucks to buy my music—or my second book!  It’s the most magical Friday of the month!

The first Friday of a bunch of months in 2024 will feature this pro-indie music observance, a day on which Bandcamp waives its usual 15% commission on sales.  Today (Friday, 6 December 2024) is the last Bandcamp Friday of the year.

In other words, when you buy my music, almost 100% of it goes to me, instead of almost 85%.

My full discography is 50% off (and the 20% promo code ziggurat can be used for that, too), so it’s only $59.64 to purchase twenty-three releases.  That’s just $2.59 per release—and dozens of hours of music, not to mention hundreds of megabytes of musical scores, artwork, liner notes, videos, and other goodies that are packed onto nearly every release.

With the 20% promo code ziggurat the total comes down to $47.71, or $2.07 per release.

Thank you for your support, and rock on!

—TPP

Leftovers III Out Today!

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Pickup my newest release: Leftovers III!  Use promo code ziggurat to take an additional 20% off all purchases on Bandcamp!  Code expires at 11:59 PM UTC on Tuesday, 31 December 2024.

My tenth album of the year is out today, Leftovers III.  Technically, it’s just an EP, but whatever—I’m proud of it, and I think you’ll enjoy it.

It’s just five bucks on Bandcamp, and with promo code ziggurat it’s an additional 20% off (indeed, that 20% off applies to everything on Bandcamp).  My entire discography is $59.64; with 20% off, that’s just $47.71 for twenty-two albums, or about $2.17 per release.  Dang!

Barring some sudden boost of inspirado, Leftovers III will be my last release for 2024.  I set a goal for myself to release ten albums and/or EPs this year, and I’ve achieved it.  I don’t know if 2025 will feature ten albums (probably not), but I’ll definitely be releasing more music at some point next year.

If you’re the streaming type, you can find LIII at the following services:

And pretty much anywhere else where music is streamed.

Here’s hoping everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy these leftovers.

Happy Listening!

—TPP