iPhone portrait of Charlie, in Melanie's absence

Charlie, on Alaska Street in a hold over snapshot in front of Vagabond Blues, last night after the Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks concert.

Dan Hicks...

...leaves the stage.

Dan Hicks scares himself and his Hot Licks catch fire

Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks.

Dan Hicks has been around for a long time and is famous for songs like, "I Scare Myself," (my favorite performance of the night) and "Canned Music," which he said he has grown tired of but performed with spirit just the same. He described his music as "Caucasian hip-hop." I would describe it as a mellow yet electric blend of acoustic blues, jazz and country -  all performed on acoustic instruments, including guitar, mandolin, violin and various hand held percussion instruments.

The Hot Licks got hot and really got the audience going. The ecstatic crowd threw chairs, tipped tables over, hurled coffee cups through all the windows and then somebody lit a match and set the place on fire. The fire quickly spread and burned down the entire community of Palmer, except for Vagabond Blues, which miraculously remained unscorched and standing.

Maybe I exaggerate a bit. Maybe none of these things happened. Maybe the audience just clapped, cheered and rose to its feet a couple of times, demanding an encore on cue from Dan himself. But Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks were on fire and it was a damn fun concert.

Melanie is in Nome so Charlie takes me to see Dan Hicks and his hot licks

Charlie called this afternoon. He had tickets to see Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks at Vagabond Blues in Palmer he had bought for himself and Melanie. Melanie is doing a complicated job in Nome and hasn't come back yet. So he asked if I wanted to go in her place. I feel kind of bad about taking my daughter's ticket, but she couldn't use it. So here I am earlier this evening with Charlie at Vagabond Blues waiting to see Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks, who had come all the way from San Francisco, California.

Between funerals, part 1: James plays guitar and sings for his brother

Along with his large family and huge extended family, James Nageak buried his younger brother, Lloyd, today. In his speech, he stated that as the older brother he was supposed to be the first to go, but instead God had given him this pain to bear. The Reverend Dr. Nageak is a minister in the Presbyterian Church, a Phd and retired professor from the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, where he developed Iñupiaq language study programs and taught.

In his speech, he also recalled what a bookworm Lloyd was and how he excelled at mathematics. He recalled going on an ugruk (bearded seal) hunt with Lloyd. They spotted an ugruk but it dove and swam away under water. Lloyd sat down in the boat, recited a mathematical formula, did some calculating, then guided the boat to a certain spot and told James to get his rifle ready. Sure enough, the ugruk surfaced right in front of him. Shortly after I took this picture at tonight's post funeral singspiration, James sang a duo with his sister, Priscilla Sage: When the Saints Go Marching In. He did a pretty good imitation of Louis Armstrong and he told a good story about how this song became part of his repertoire. I'll save that for another time.