Minor Wisdom

Lucky

Many years ago, I saw a 4-year-old prodigy named Lucky Peterson on the Johnny Carson show, playing the organ and singing a little song called 1 2 3 4. I remember Johnny asking him for an autograph, and Lucky taking what seemed like five minutes to scrawl “LUCKY” on a piece of paper for him. Lucky has since grown up and grown into an accomplished blues musician and master of several instruments, including guitar and organ.

Sam and Dave give thanks

Enjoy.

“Come on in my kitchen”

Meet Theresa Andersson, Sweden’s finest contribution to the New Orleans music scene. She is an eclectic musician, dabbling over the years in blues, R&B, and rock. Lately she’s been experimenting with loop pedals, both on stage and in her kitchen. In fact, her latest album, Hummingbird, Go!, was recorded in her kitchen. So were a couple of YouTube videos, Na Na Na and Birds Fly Away, demos of two songs on Hummingbird, Go! Of the two, I prefer the latter — watching her play the tambourine is a pleasure.

Okay, I hear some of you out there thinking, “That was nice, but it wasn’t blues.” Good point. So here’s a bluesier number by Ms. Andersson: Oh Mary Don’t You Weep:

Navel gazing for bloggers

Lately, many of my blogging buddies have been plugging themselves into the GenderAnalyzer, to find out how manly or womanly their blogs are. For those who are even more introspective, here is the Typeanalyzer, an engine that figures out your personality type based on the text of your blog. According to it, I have a split personality: Minor Wisdom is ISTP, “the independent and problem-solving type,” while The (New) Legal Writer is INJT, “the long-range thinking and individualistic type.”

Hat tip to Legal Writing Prof Blog.

Guess I should buy me a fedora

Number 116 on the list of Stuff White People Like: black music that black people don’t listen to anymore. Such as jazz and blues:

“Along with Jazz, white people have also taken quite a shine to The Blues, an art form that captured the pain of the black experience in America.  Then, in the 1960s, a bunch of British bands started to play their own version of the music and white people have been loving it ever since.  It makes sense considering that the British were the ones who created The Blues in the 17th Century.

“Today, white people keep The Blues going strong by taking vacations to Memphis, forming awkward bands, making documentaries, and organizing folk festivals.  Blue and Jazz music appeal mostly to older white people and select few young ones who probably wear fedoras....”

(Photo swiped from With a Swing.)

South Texas grand jury indicts Cheney and Gonzales

A hat tip to Roger Hughes for this item:

McALLEN, Texas — A South Texas grand jury has indicted Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on charges related to the alleged abuse of prisoners in Willacy County’s federal detention centers.

The indictment criticizes Cheney’s investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and “at least misdemeanor assaults” on detainees by working through the prison companies.

Gonzales is accused of using his position while in office to stop an investigation into abuses at the federal detention centers.

An example of professionalism

Here is a special Monday edition of Saturday-Evening Blues—an example of professionalism.¹ Let’s say you’re a blues guitarist with a broken ring finger on your fretboard hand. What do you do? If you’re Albert King, you put a splint on it, and you get out there and play. After all, you only need one healthy finger to fret a guitar string.

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¹ For my friends at WAC?, who are always waxing lyrical about professionalism.

In honor of Mitch Mitchell

Former drummer for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Mitch Mitchell, died earlier this week. You can see him a little and hear him a lot on this video.

Dying isn’t so bad if you know how to live.

Case in point: South Texas lawyer Doug Tinker, whom I didn’t know, but wish I did. The first paragraph of his obituary reminds me of Monty Python’s famous dead-parrot sketch. I hope that in heaven, he hooks up with Louis Nugent.

(Hat tip to Roger Hughes.)

p.s. (11/20/08): For another remembrance of Doug Tinker, read this post by Amanda W.

p.s. (12/23/08): A line at the bottom of Doug Tinker’s obituary says it will be on line until 1/10/09. To give it longer life, I’m going to reproduce it below.

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A post-election song for Saturday Evening Blues

Here is New Orleans’ contribution to Barack Obama’s successful campaign, courtesy of Lee Dorsey and Allen Toussaint. This song was later covered by the Pointer Sisters. Enjoy.