6 Dec 2025 – Go Retire Psychiatrist

Well, I listened to the Big Mod Pod Show today and I have a couple of thoughts. Big Mod mentioned something about some kind of an AI assistant maybe selecting some records on the KCCK Facebook site. He didn’t sound all that pleased with the choices the AI makes, specifically with the John Lee Hooker tune, “Mr. Lucky.”

Big Mo Pod Show 085 – “California Bluesin”

I may have the wrong understanding about the “AI guy blues buddy” on the Big Mo Facebook page but if it’s the AI guy like CoPilot or Gemini, then it would be great if you could deactivate it somehow. I know I get pretty annoyed with AI when I search the web (not always, but sometimes it’s annoying).

I just happen to have the 1995 CD called “The Very Best of John Lee Hooker.” Far be it from me to be the judge of what’s the best for any blues artist, but I think the CD is pretty good, though I haven’t listened to it in a while. The other thing I have to admit is that I’ve found differences of opinion on is whether “Hobo Blues” is a 12-bar blues type number or not.

If Big Mo says he can’t understand why Hooker would confine himself to a constraining 12-bar blues song, then I’ll have to agree with him.

Then, of course, I ran into something else I don’t know about and that’s something called “trance blues.” Supposedly, John Lee Hooker did trance blues. How I find out about things I don’t know anything about is to peck around the internet and I found this link that defines it as something that has “a strong electronic component.”

I don’t know about “electronic” and I noticed some authors describe trance blues as “repetitive and hypnotic.” Does that mean that 12-bar blues is not trance blues?

So, here’s the thing. I’ve got my own pesky AI assistant Gemini that I never ask for any advice from, but it never misses a chance to make a point about some query I have for the internet—like trance blues.

Gemini says Hooker’s “Boogie Chillen” is an example of trance blues and also mentions that “Hobo Blues” is another example of it.

I don’t know if I can get this straight. Is 12-bar blues an example of a chord progression pattern and is trance blues a genre of blues which has a repetitive, hypnotic rhythm? It’s over my head.

Sena bought me a bigger snow plow shovel because we’re getting a fair amount of snow lately. I’ll try it out tomorrow because we’ll be getting a couple of inches or so starting tonight.

The new snow plow shovel is 48 inches wide. The one she got last year was 36 inches wide. We have 6-foot-wide sidewalks (really a trail) and with the driveway, it’s kind of a chore.

I never checked out the maker’s website until today. The About Us section indicates they are based in Iowa, starting in 1996. The company name is JM Enterprises, hence the website name jmenterprisesdotcom. All the materials are made in the U.S.A. but I couldn’t see what city they’re based in. Another interesting thing about the website is that they have a link to The Farmer’s Almanac, which I clicked on and from there found out that there are two versions of The Farmer’s Almanac—I guess.

The one called just The Farmer’s Almanac is going to stop publishing soon. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is not going to stop publishing.

It makes me wonder if the Snow Plow company will switch to displaying a link to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

The other nice thing about the web site is the Shovel Safety page. Bob Vila recommends their snow pushers. The guidance for snow removal using both snow pushers and scoop shovels sounds like solid common sense. It’s another feather in Iowa’s cap.