Long ago and far away I sat one day in an architectural history class, anticipating another dull lecture from another dull professor. Was I in for a surprise. This new prof walks in, flips off the lights, cranks up a slide show of historic buildings, and starts the music. "Sit back and soak it up," says he.
I did. It was my introduction to Mose Allison. I was, as they used to say, gobsmacked. In the more than five decades since that intro I can no longer remember what that album was, but I believe it must have been his first, Back Country Suite, released in 1957.
Later, when I began to play a little chess, I considered adopting this number as my theme song.
I enjoy playing chess, and specifically, the Blackmar-Diemer Gambit, the BDG, which many insist is not chess at all. Maybe so--I'm too old to argue.
But I enjoyed playing the BDG so much that I bought the company. Well, no, but I did publish a little magazine about it, called BDG World, for fifteen years. That was a long time ago. So I thought I'd revisit a few of those pages here, plus add a little new content about the BDG, its storied advocate, E. J. Diemer, and whatever else strikes my fancy. Thanks for reading.
