Tag: TBT

TBT^16: Things That Go Bump in the Night

The Portly Politico4 Comments

Ah, yes—Spooky Season is back!  I love this time of year, so much so that I’ll say if you don’t, you’re a buzzkill.

Indeed, there’s a weird kind of “horseshoe” overlap where extreme progressives—who are notorious buzzkills—meet with extreme Christian fundamentalists, where both end up denouncing Halloween.  Look, I’m probably a Christian fundamentalist by most standards, but, c’mon—I love fun.  I’m pretty sure God Does, too.

And what’s more fun that getting candy and running around in the dark dressed in some kind of hilarious costume?  Well, probably a lot of things if you’re nearly forty, but I can at least appreciate the spooky aesthetic of Halloween.

Anyway, you get my point—this time of year is fun.  I don’t know if ghosts are real (probably not, if you believe in the Bible), but I don’t see any harm in speculating wild about the topic.

With that, here is 12 October 2023’s “TBT^4: Things That Go Bump in the Night“:

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TBT^4: Mahler’s Composing Shack

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While it still doesn’t quite feel like autumn here in South Carolina, there’s the slightest bit of crisp autumnal tanginess lingering in the air in the early morning hours, that enticing little promise, that intriguing little nip, of fall fun.

Music has always seemed better to me in the autumn—indeed, just about everything is.  The colder air, though, makes sound waves travel further, and while I don’t pretend to know how that magically makes everything sound better—or if it even does in reality—it surely seems to be an improvement.  Perhaps it’s the fact that one can hear a string quartet performing outdoors, or attend an outdoor rock concert, or listen to a bluegrass band at a fall festival, without sweating profusely that makes the difference.

Whatever the reason, yours portly has been writing quite a big of music lately.  My biggest release of the year—and the ninth album and/or EP in 2023—Spooky Season III, hits all streaming platforms tomorrow, 4 October 2024—including, for the first time in almost a year, Spotify!  Yes, yes, I’m compromising my principles, but it’s for a good reason—money!  Actually, it’s due to demand from listeners who want to listen to my music but who remain loyal to the largest streaming platform in the world, even if it is stealing royalties from artists’ pockets.

Anyway, it seemed like a good time to reblog this post about Gustav Mahler’s composing routine—and his cozy, Spartan little shack by the sea.  What a wonderful place to hunker down and write music!

With that, here is 5 October 2023’s “TBT^2: Mahler’s Composing Shack“:

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TBT^256: The Joy of Autumn

The Portly Politico13 Comments

Autumn has arrived, and even though it’s still hotter than Balzac here in South Carolina, I’m getting ready for spooky season.  I spent this past Saturday deep cleaning my house in anticipation of the annual Spooktacular (just a month away!) and to make sure the place looks good for the floozies.

There’s something about the fall that inspires industriousness.  Part of it is the cooler weather, but  it’s also the time to get things done before the long, lazy winter months arrive.  I love the winter, but when the sun sets at 5 PM, all I want to do is eat hot pizza and watch cheesy horror movies before collapsing into a salt-induced food coma on my plaid couch.

The autumn, on the other hand, encourages activity.  Perhaps it is a holdover from the days when the autumn meant the harvest, and everyone had to busy themselves with bringing in the sheaves.

Regardless, I love this time of year most of all, and I am excited for more opportunities to explore God’s Creation, catch up with friends and family, and enjoy good music.  ‘Tis the season!

With that, here is 28 September 2023’s “TBT^16: The Joy of Autumn“:

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TBT^4: The Frisson of the Night

The Portly Politico23 Comments

Yours portly has been burning the midnight oil—and the candle at both ends—lately with composing, as I’m churning out Spooky Season III (tentative release date:  Friday, 4 October 2024).  Last week my church also had revival services, so I was in this weird situation of working late with lessons, cramming some food into my mouth, and then going to church.  I’d then come home, exhausted but hyped up on the Holy Spirit and caffeine, and work doggedly at Halloween music (if that all seems incongruous, well, that’s just me, baby!).

In addition to the Halloween music, I’ve also been working on a number of arrangements for my Music Ensemble and private music students, such as an arrangement of the hymn “O Salutaris” for clarinet, violin, and cello (with piano reduction).  Shew!

Naturally, this past weekend I crashed—hard.  I spent most of Saturday asleep, then slept in some Sunday morning before church.  I did not get done nearly as much as I’d hoped, but did get caught up on some World History slides (which I largely put on the backburner last week so I could compose), and slammed out some blog posts (including this one) before church.

Anyway, the late nights have reminded me of how exciting nighttime can be, especially when those hidden reserves of energy pump out quasi-mystical levels of creativity.  Perhaps there is something hallucinogenic about operating on too little sleep (that said, I don’t recommend it) and too much inspiration.  Maybe I’m just a workaholic.

But, in looking back at this piece, it’s notable how much fun stuff happens at night.  It’s a weird, otherworldly time, especially as it veers into the wee hours of the following morning.

I’m a morning person (except for this past weekend), but there is something tantalizing and deliciously inspiring about a late night—even though now I much prefer being in bed under normal circumstances.

With that, here is 21 September 2023’s “TBT^2: The Frisson of the Night“:

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TBT: Remarkable Animals

The Portly Politico10 Comments

The older I get, the more I appreciate animals.  My parents have just taken in two precious kittens—a brother and a sister—and watching their cantering and playing is adorable.  It’s also a good reminder of the playfulness of youth, in both humans and animals, and how enjoying that playfulness keeps us young, even if we’re not as spry as we used to be.

God Created some amazing stuff.  The sheer biodiversity of our world is awe-inspiring, and demonstrates that our God Is Awesome.  We serve an amazing Lord.

With that, here is 15 September 2023’s “Remarkable Animals“:

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TBT^4: Road Trip!

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Yours portly had a pretty jam-packed summer with lots of time on the road visiting family, friends, and floozies.  Most of that driving was spent on the soulless, boring Interstate Highway System, but I managed to get onto some backroads (including a stop at Old Sheldon Church earlier this summer).

Over the long Labor Day weekend I was keeping I-20 hot with babysitting duties and celebrating my maternal grandparents’ seventieth (!) wedding anniversary.  No real backroads on those excursions, but I did get to drive through the lovely town of Camden, South Carolina, on way to dinner with a friend (she made meatloaf stuffed with mushrooms and bleu cheese; it was absolutely incredible).

But yours portly can’t resist the siren song of undiscovered backroads for long.  I’m looking forward to discovering some more of forgotten graveyards, abandoned middle schools, tiny shops, and other highway bric-a-brac in the near future.

With that, here is 7 September 2024’s “TBT^2: Road Trip!“:

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TBT^4: Rebuilding Civilization: The Hunter-Gatherer

The Portly Politico6 Comments

As readers are doubtlessly tired of hearing, I am teaching World History this year for the first time in over a decade.  So far it’s been hugely fun, as we have been studying the earliest humans and how people transitioned from the hunter-gathering lifestyle of the Paleolithic Age to the settled agricultural lifestyle of the Neolithic Age.  With agriculture came cities and, ultimately, civilization.

There’s been a subtle-but-noticeable trend of late that idolizes the hunter-gatherer lifestyle.  Wouldn’t it be great to spend a few hours gathering food each day, then lounging by the campfire with your kinsmen and relaxing?  Well, yes, if you’re in an area of great abundance, that wouldn’t be bad, but you’re also living with massive food insecurity all the time.

One telling graph in my students’ World History textbooks shows the population of the world prior to the rise of agriculture, and the population afterwards.  The transition is dramatic:  while the global population hovered around just a few hundred thousand people for millennia, the global population shot up to roughly ninety million people in the first 5000 years following the advent of agriculture.  The graph is a real hockey stick.

We definitely have made sacrifices for civilization, and I think Western Civilization has particularly grown quite sick.  Crowding a bunch of people into tightly-packed cities is probably not good for our mental health.  Some people need to live on forty acres in the middle of nowhere.  I suspect that most of us need considerably less space, but there’s something dehumanizing about cramming people into shoebox apartments stacked one atop the other.  We’re probably also not meant to destroy our minds and bodies on soul-sucking corporate work for a dozen hours a day, either.

But even with these drawbacks, civilization breeds life.  And the struggles inherent in maintaining a civilization create the greatest art and literature the world has ever known.

My argument for civilization will always boil down to this idea:  the civilization that produced Bach is a civilization worth preserving.

With that here is 24 August 2024’s “TBT^2: Rebuilding Civilization: The Hunter-Gatherer“:

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TBT^2: Chapel Lesson: Listening

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Today marks the first Chapel of the new school year.  My school holds chapel every Thursday, and we have a really excellent chaplain.  He is an Episcopalian/Anglican reverend originally from England, and he is a true man of God.  He is also a towering figure, and he makes an impression.  I am teaching one of his sons in my Middle School Music Ensemble this year, too, which is fun!  The young man plays cello.

When the good Father can’t be there to give the chapel devotional, though, I am typically asked to substitute.  For awhile, I was informally taking on occasional chaplain duties with and from our last chaplain, a very sweet young man who was shy about speaking in front of large crowds, which made it a bit difficult for him to muster up the courage to deliver the weekly devotional.

Thus it was that this short little lesson was born, as I was the “warmup act,” as it were, to show this young former chaplain that it’s not too difficult if you just listen to the Holy Spirit and speak from God’s Word.

With that, here is 31 August 2023’s “TBT: Chapel Lesson: Listening“:

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TBT^256: Back to School with Richard Weaver

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The 2024-2025 school year resumes this coming Monday, 19 August 2024, and yours portly has already been back on campus for the past few days, busily preparing for another school year.

Without any warning, my administration has given me two sections of World History to teach, rather than my usual US History classes.  While they should have told me about the change two months ago, I’m excited to dive into a subject I have not taught in many years (the last time I taught the class was in the 2011-2012 school year, and I taught its kissing cousin, Western Civilization, off-and-on in 2014 and 2015 at the local technical college).

Last school year was a fairly brutal slog, and I’ve been alternatively dreading this year and looking forward to it.  Perhaps the opportunity to teach World History will reignite the spark (plus, World History is just cool).

But what of our good friend Richard Weaver and his book Ideas Have Consequences?  At the time of writing I haven’t dipped back into Weaver the way I would like, but I find that his ideas always help to crystallize for me what teaching and education are all about—the preservation of civilization for at least another generation.

With that, here is “TBT^16: Back to School with Richard Weaver“:

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TBT^16: Back to the Grind 202[4]

The Portly Politico3 Comments

My two-plus months of living like a French duke and/or welfare queen have come to an end.  Yours portly returns to the salt mines of secondary education today.  Classes won’t start back until Monday, 19 August 2024, but teachers reports back today for the usual bout of annual trainings, AFLAC representatives, handbook excursions, etc.

[UPDATE:  due to Hurricane/Tropical Storm Debby, we won’t report back until Monday, 12 August 2024—whoa!  But I’m still going to grouse about going back to work.  —TPP]

I’ve never quite understood why we report back on a Thursday, when we could easily cover all of this foolishness in a day or two of meetings the following week.  It seems like a way to deprive us of one, final, long weekend before the drudgery returns.

To be frank, I am not much looking forward to this school year—a sadly common refrain from yours portly the past few years.  Our enrollment is way down, which will bring with it all sorts of austerity measures and demands for teachers to sacrifice more time and energy for the good of the school.

Last year was absolutely brutal, and while I’m always cautiously optimistic, I am having a hard time talking myself into a good attitude this year.  Perhaps simply getting back into a rhythm will be its own reward.

With that, here is 3 August 2023’s “TBT^4: Back to the Grind 202[3]“:

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