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Nicole opens Ming Ming.
That just means that we get to show you an actual picture from this Christmas at Shane and Brenda's house. Nicole is now 2-1/2 years old and understands what "presents" are. She really likes The Wonderpets and was happy to get Ming-Ming for Christmas.
Carol and Randy came back from Cincinnati in January for a visit. We all got together at Sherry and Barry's house for lunch. It's always good to see them and we wish they didn't live so far away. We got a chance to visit with them at their home in August. Randy was busy digging the Panama Canal to drain the sump from his basement. It was a lot of fun meeting all thirteen of their cats.
Carol & Randy with the gang at Sherry & Barry's
Wet Food Night at Hamann's in Cincinnati
Only twleve cats are visible in the picture. Those kitty's were a lot of fun and they were surprisingly well behaved.
Melody under the canopy for
three days at the Deep Blues Festival.
A tremendous amount of our time and energy the past year has gone into volunteer work for The Greater Twin Cities Blues Music Society. Melody in particular has worked tirelessly on events such as The Deep Blues Festival and The Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame.
Deep Blues is derivative of the music played by the old bluesmen from the North Mississippi Hill Country like T-Model Ford, R.L. Burnside and Junior Kimbrough. It's not everyone's cup of tea but I personally don't think that it can be ignored as part of the blues genre. It seems to be particularly attractive to younger musicians which is probably a good thing as a lot of the older players are passing on. Deep Blues Festival '09 is July 15-19.
Spider John Koerner performing at
the Hall of Fame Ceremony.
The Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame was held on October 19th at the Minneapolis Eagles Club. I can't even begin to count the number of times Melody and I drove back and forth to the Eagles to try and get this thing to come together.
Willie Murphy, Spider John Koerner, Tony Glover and the late Dave Ray were among this year's HOF honorees. Sort of a tip-of-the-cap to the pioneers of the Minneapolis West Bank music scene. Besides meeting with Koerner at Tracy's Bar one afternoon to try and convince him to show up for this gig, Melody also had to call a list of musicians "suggested" by Willie Murphy to convince them to participate in the jam following the ceremony.
Willie Murphy on keyboard
2008 Minnesota Blues Hall of Fame
Miraculously everything fell into place and the Hall of Fame event was a smashing success. I think we slept for a week after it was over. My eye has finally healed from where Melody smacked me in the face with a chair the night of the ceremony. We were in a frenzy trying to set up additional chairs to accommodate the crowd. Melody now receives phone calls regularly from Willie Murphy. They're buddies now I guess.
Nicole eating Boppa's waffles.
Shane and Brenda are expecting a brother for Nicole at the end of January so we'll get to be grandparents again. I think they'll have their hands full and so will we but I'm sure it will be just great. Nicole is such a goof. She's just so cute I can't help but love her. In preparation for the arrival of her new brother Nicole has been practicing by commanding her baby doll, "Sleep!"
I hope you have enjoyed this Christmas "e-message" and were able to view it O.K. Mel and I wish you and your family the best for this holiday season and good health and happiness throughout the coming year.
Love,
Jake and Mel