Tag: Reblogged

TBT^2: Mahler’s Composing Shack

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Ah, yes—autumn.  Music sounds sweeter, food tastes better, girls look prettier.  What is it about the autumn that rings everything in a warm, golden glow?  Is it the coming crispness in the air?  The shorter days, the chilly nights?  Or perhaps the leaves falling from the trees, the continuous cycle of death and renewal circling ever onwards?

Whatever it is, it’s a great time to compose and play music.  As I noted last year, it’s “the time of year when my personal creativity seems to spark.”  Indeed, the sequel to Spooky Season (now on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube), Spooky Season II: Rise of the Cryptids releases tomorrow, Friday, 6 October 2023 on Bandcamp.

I’ve been using a free trial of Noteflight to compose lately, and I’ve really enjoyed it.  It’s very robust, although it (surprisingly) lacks some of the depth and breadth of sounds as my ancient copy of Cakewalk 3.0.  Unlike Cakewalk 3.0, however, it will run on a modern operating system, so it’s good enough for me!

I don’t have a nice, tidy composing routine like Gustav Mahler or Beethoven.  I kind of jot down ideas in my music journal when I have a few spare lines of staff paper, then try to expand those motifs into full pieces (or just compose twelve-second pieces—ha!).  Then I slap everything into Noteflight approximately whenever I feel like it, or when I’m on a composing tear and can’t stop!

With that, here is 6 October 2022’s “TBT: Mahler’s Composing Shack“:

Read More »

Lazy Sunday CXXII: Myersvision, Part IX

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

I’m hosting a FREE listening party for my latest release, Spooky Season, tonight, Sunday, 1 October 2023, at 7 PM.  RSVP here.  —TPP

It’s another Sunday of posts from TPP’s favorite (and only) senior correspondent, Audre Myers!

  • “Myersvision: ‘Ode to the PB&J’” – Audre’s poetic apologia for America’s favorite sandwich.
  • “Myersvision: Alexander Scourby” – A honey-throated English actor reads the Bible.
  • “Myersvision: Why?” – I made two mistakes with this post.  First, I posted it on a Thursday on accident, instead of a Wednesday, which meant two consecutive Myersvision posts.  Second, I put a “-” instead of a “:” in the title.  What a fool!  But the post is good—it’s why people dedicate their lives to trying to find Bigfoot.

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

TBT^16: The Joy of Autumn

The Portly Politico2 Comments

This year is the first time I’ve noticed a pop cultural excitement for autumn.  Sure, people love talking about “sweater weather” and Spooky Season, but this year it’s everywhere.  I’ve witnessed dozen of memes all gleefully proclaiming the arrival of fall before August even had a chance to expire.

The pumpkin spiced everything trend is also back in a big way, and marketers have gone all in to cater to single women with disposable incomes.  In this case, lump me in with the single women.  While I haven’t bought gallons pumpkin spiced lattes (now trendily abbreviated as “PSLs”), I certainly appreciate pumpkin flavoring.

Besides, who doesn’t love the festive rotundity of pumpkins?  They’re so round and jolly—the charismatic, carotene-rich cousins to the lumpy squash.

So it is that I happily greet the start of autumn, even if that does make me a girl.

With that, here is “TBT^4: The Joy of Autumn“:

Read More »

Lazy Sunday CXXI: Myersvision, Part VIII

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Our senior correspondent Audre Myers has been a source of encouragement for yours portly lately, so it seemed appropriate to return to retrospectives of her contributions to this site.  She’s been delivering the goods lately:

Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

TBT^2: The Frisson of the Night

The Portly Politico5 Comments

Yours portly is a morning person, but there is also something electric about the night (as for afternoons, well, why bother?—they’re hot and sleepy, and are better spent napping than working).  Some of the best songs I’ve ever written were completed at 2 AM.  While the approaching time change brings the night on a bit too early—who wants to leave work in total darkness at 5 PM?—it does cloak everything in a simultaneously cozy and exciting twilight.

Nighttime is certainly not without its dangers—animals and people prowling about, looking for prey; otherworldly spooks haunting decrepit graveyards; nasty, crawling things oozing about in one’s vegetable garden.  But it’s that very sense of the unknown, of the potential nightmares lurking around the corner, that make the night so fascinating—and exciting!

Of course, I much prefer the safety of a well-lit night at a good coffee shop or eatery, with exquisite music and good company.  Music sounds better in the autumn, but it also sounds better at night.  Don’t ask me why—it’s the mysticism of the night.

With that, here is 15 September 2022’s “TBT: The Frisson of the Night“:

Read More »

Lazy Sunday CXX: Skeletons

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

Spooky Season is upon us, and yours portly can’t get enough of it.  Pumpkins.  Ghosts.  Skeletons!

So this Sunday, I thought I’d look back at the scant skeleton posts on this humble blog:

Happy Sunday—and Happy Listening!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Lazy Sunday CXIX: Sandwiches

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

With school back in session, I’m enjoying sandwiches on a semi-regular basis again.  I am a great lover of the sandwich, perhaps the most ingenious form factor for delivering vegetables, proteins, carbs, and fats in a handy, handheld package (pizza and burritos also deserve kudos in this regard).

So it was that I thought I might look back at some sandwich related posts:

  • “Supporting Friends Friday: The Sandwhich Press” – The Sandwhich Press (and, yes, it’s spelled with the extra “h,” although the URL for the page spells “sandwich” the normal way) is the Telegram chat of Goth Kilts, an influential and humorous Telegram poster.  Her chat partially inspired Péchés d’âge moyen, my collection of short piano miniatures, as I began composing again in part to take part in the online joking taking place at that fortuitous time.  It boasts over 500 subscribers, all of them richly deserved.
  • “Bologna” (and “TBT: Bologna“) – I don’t understand the hate for bologna.  It’s a delicious use of all the reject parts of the various animals, delivering flavor and calories (and, unfortunately, now heartburn for yours portly) in a cheap package.
  • “Myersvision: ‘Ode to the PB&J’” – Audre Myers‘s poem celebrating America’s Lunch.

Happy Sunday—and Happy Eating!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

TBT^2: Road Trip!

The Portly Politico6 Comments

Right after the start of the new school year, I had the opportunity to hoof it down to Orlando for a day at Universal Studios with my family.  After going way too many times in 2020, I haven’t been back much since, so it was good to get back into the parks, even if for only a day.

Before school resumed, I found myself driving all over South Carolina to dine with an array of beauties.  That also provided ample opportunity to explore the highways and byways of my beloved State.

There is a beautiful drive through the countryside between my home of Lamar, South Carolina, and I-95, which GPS always recommends when I head to the Charleston/Mount Pleasant region of South Carolina.  It winds south of town on US-401 to the unincorporated community of Elliott, South Carolina, then veers off onto SC-527 for several miles before hitting I-95 South.  There’s a beautiful old church in Elliott with stained glass windows; across from it is a postage stamp-sized post office, proudly flying its American Flag on a mostly empty street corner.

Along SC-527 is an abandoned middle school, overgrown with weeds and brambles.  While I’m sure there is nothing there now but raccoons and spiders, I’d like to poke around in those remains.  I also wonder what it was like attending classes at this brick-and-concrete edifice in the middle of corn fields in a remote corner of the State, and what devastating depopulation had to occur for a school to find itself, empty and abandoned, so far from anything.  What must it be like for a school to die?  If a school dies, it means the community has already died much earlier.

I’ve come to enjoy these little trips.  There’s a great deal to see, and I enjoy the quiet drives.  After one (quite successful—fingers crossed!) excursion to Summerville, I found myself driving back during a massive storm.  Fortunately, the driving was easy, but the lightning was terrific—blasting out in huge bursts that turned night into day.  I was listening to A Flock of Seagull’s hit “I Ran,” and the lightning would sometimes hit in time with the constantly moving synthesizer part, creating a cinematic effect that could never be duplicated.

My advice to readers:  hit the road!

With that, here is 1 September 2022’s “TBT: Road Trip!“:

Read More »

Memorable Monday: Happy Labor Day [2023]!

The Portly Politico8 Comments

Another Labor Day—another day for eating hot dogs and chilling out around the house.  Other than some half-days and a professional development day, it’s the last holiday for yours portly until the insanely good Thanksgiving Break that I get now.

I’m on mild dog sitting duty for my neighbors, so I’m keeping it local this weekend.  I did quite a bit of driving (most of it floozy-related) in early-to-mid-August, so I’m looking forward to a little time at the house.

Looking back at prior year’s LD posts, it seems I did not make it to Florida as predicted last Labor Day.  It ended up being a weekend for some South Carolina-based adventures.

There are more adventures to come, just not this weekend.  This weekend is for the dogs—both canine and hot.

With that, here is “Memorable Monday: Happy Labor Day [2022]!“:

Read More »

Lazy Sunday CXVIII: Monarchy

The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

I’ve been on a British monarchy kick the past month thanks to the excellent biographies over at The People Profiles.  So, as we enjoy the very American Labor Day weekend, let’s also look back at some recent posts about monarchy.

God Save the King—and Happy Sunday!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments: