REVIEW POTPOURRI: Met Opera Links at WOH

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Met Opera Links at WOH

Philip Glass

Recently I mentioned the live Met Opera links being seen at the Waterville Opera House. This past Saturday, Puccini’s Madame Butterfly was scheduled there, starting at 12:55 p.m., as were October 12’s Turandot and October 26 Massenet Manon, both of which I attended.

Giacomo Puccini

Not googling its website before walking a mile there, I found all the doors locked and later found out it was postponed to be seen recorded Sunday afternoon, November 24, also starting then at 12:55 p.m., the reason being problems with its projector.

Meanwhile, the Met’s next live link, Philip Glass’s opera, Akhnaten, is scheduled Saturday afternoon, November 23. For further details, the House can be reached at 873-7000 or on Google. This column will be covering both operas in the November 28 issue and the links are still highly recommended. Also, anybody can call the number to be put on the broadcast notification list.

Carey Mulligan

Netflix has a four-episode BBC TV series, Collateral, starring actresses Carey Mulligan as detective Kip Glaspie, and Jeany Spark as British army captain Sandrine Shaw. The story concerns the murder of a pizza delivery driver in London and its quite ominous repercussions.

I have watched this program at least three times and find it a simply brilliant depiction of people caught between rocks and hard places and their evil antagonists. Mulligan and Spark become their characters as do the ensemble cast members. It was first shown on the BBC in February 2018, and became available as a DVD soon after. A word of caution – it does have a few nude scenes and curse words but still sustains its rocks and hard places.

Quote from Giacomo Puccini: “I lived for art, I lived for love.”

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS: The small family-owned hardware store

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Growing your businessby Dan Beaulieu
Business consultant

We’re talking about a small, possibly family-owned hardware store. Actually, it’s not that small compared to a store in the ‘50s when it was founded, but it is small compared to the big stores that we have around today. So, how do you fare against these big guys? How do you even survive against these giants with huge inventories, thousands if not hundreds of thousands of parts, and huge physical footprints, not to mention their on-line shopping offerings. This seems almost overwhelming doesn’t it?

A real David and Goliath situation if there ever was one. So, what is the local hardware store to do? What if this is your hardware store? One started by your grandfather, run successfully by your father, and now it is up to you to carry on the family business in this new world order. What are you going to do against these odds?

Well, fear not, there are a number of things you can do to not only survive but to thrive as well. First of all, you can leverage all the advantages you have going for you by being small. Small is beautiful. Small means you are spry and flexible with the ability to do anything you want and be as creative as you want with none of the encumbrances of a giant chain box store corporation.

You have full authority to do whatever you want whenever you want. This means that you can throw a sale anytime you want. This means you can focus on special seasonal promotion whenever you want. This means you can have a family day, and open house, a one hour super sale a co-sponsored event with other business. This means you can have a special deal with your local contractors that will keep them not only coming back but sending their own customers to you as well. Heck, you can even have a steady flow of good hot coffee and donuts for those contractors and other customers going at all times. It’s up to you.

But the biggest tool in your bag (pun intended) is that you can be local and personal. You can make a point of knowing all of your customers personally, be able to call them by name, talk to them about that special project they are working on. The big box guys can’t do that.

You can offer special services, personalized services like instructional classes, Special events for local contractors. By the way, one neat little secret is that local contractors as a rule hate the big box stores. Try to get your local plumbing company to fix that “delta faucet” you bought on the cheap at the big store and watch him sneer. I once bought a Lawnboy lawnmower at a big box store and took it to a local repair shop when it broke down, only to have him condescendingly declare that he knew I had bought it at a big chain store because it wasn’t a genuine Lawnboy. Oh, it was made by Lawnboy all right, but it was a special cheaper model made solely to be sold exclusively to the big guys so they can meet their cost expectations. You as an owner of a local hardware store can sell the real genuine products and make sure that your customers know that.

Customers like shopping locally, they like going to places, like they say in the Cheer’s song, “Where everyone knows your name.” Your only job is to make it as easy and pleasant as possible for your customers. Offer them personalized service, special promotions, and friendly service and you will keep them coming back.

One last thing…all business is personal, all business is human to human, keep your business and human and personal as possible, and the customers will keep coming back…and you will keep growing your business.

VETERANS CORNER: Will veterans receive COLA this year?

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Veterans Administration facility at Togus. (Internet photo)

by Gary Kennedy

I will pull myself away from partisan things and devote this article to veterans’ issues in tidbit fashion. The reason being there are many veterans issues in the fire currently. The upfront question that veterans seem to have as well as Social Security recipients is, “Will we receive the (COLA) Cost of Living Benefit this year and, if so, how much will we receive?”

For those of you who are unaware, this allocation of money comes once a year in December. It can be anywhere from 0 to 4 percent (historically speaking). With President Trump being under the gun from all sides, it’s hard to say. Where it is near an election year and veterans being extremely active at the polls you would summarize that a COLA would be given and is fairly substantial. However, not much has been said about this award as of yet. It is still a little early to predict. Usually Social Security is the first to hear. Some don’t know that the VA appropriation is the same as that which is awarded to Social Security. That is as far as that relationship goes.

There are thousands of veterans who spend their winters in Southeast Asia. There is news coming from that area, some which needs to be addressed. Examples are the following: VA in Manila will no longer process clothing allowance claims for those who damage clothing because of service connected disabilities. The same applies to durable medical equipment, glasses, hearing aids, etc. If the item or items are needed for VA rated Service Connected Conditions then they could be reimbursed through the Foreign Medical Program (FMP). If you need further help with these issues contact Daniel Gutkoski, VA medical clinic manager at Daniel.gutkoski2@va.gov. FYI: there is still an open door/walk-in relationship on Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m..

On October 6, 2019, VA Manila has a new phone number. The new main VA phone number is 632-8550-3888. This will connect you to the VA switchboard.

On a local level, the Fisher House is basically completed and should advertise an open house soon. As far as the house itself is concerned most of my followers and others know my personal feeling regarding that project. The building, which will house guests, in my opinion was built in the wrong place. It is lovely building but is situated in front of building 200 which houses handicapped parking which has always been “an accident looking for a place to happen.” Emergency is just around the corner from said facility and its parking abuts the handicap parking. So, there will be disabled vets backing into guests. There were many solutions Mr. Lilly could have entertained but like always, he didn’t give the project any thought. I checked with the state land use people regarding wet zones and permits necessary to build on such, but no such authorization was given.

We all enjoy the pond that abuts this building. Canada Geese, Coots and other wildlife enjoy that habitat as well as veterans and their families. Director Ryan Lilly, recently promoted to regional director, could have used many other venues for this much wanted and needed facility. One that comes to mind is a drive which would have the occupants of the Fisher House parking in the rear of the house, thus avoiding congestion, and hazardous possibilities, which could result in lawsuits as well as being cosmetically more pleasing. When I questioned the thought that went into this project the answer I received was a grant with walking distance stipulations. In my opinion anything within 50 yards would be considered walking distance. If they had backed the building up 50 feet it wouldn’t have a problem as long as wet land zoning was respected.

We now have beautiful signs giving directions but the roads are full of dangerous pot holes. Also the sidewalks have many hazards for wheelchair and crutch burdened veterans. Some of the doorways are not wheelchair friendly/compliant, even by state and federal guidelines. Having grants given to the VA is a wonderful thing but they should not have personal stipulations attached which are not negotiable, or are they? The drop off point at Building 200 has become a serious problem at times where people are allowed to park on both sides of the entryway thus causing a bottle neck which even the police don’t seem to be able to control.

The shortage of medical personnel is unacceptable. There are hundreds of thousands of trained medical professionals trying to get into this country on working visas but we are too tied up in politics and border wars. The politicians are saying that the veterans are in a great position at this time because if they have to wait more than 30 days they can request to go outside. Some of that is good but it is a temporary political fix. An example that I would give from positive information is dental teeth trays, VA cost is less than $100, but the cost at an outside dentist is $620. Another is spinal surgery, say L4-5 with implants, performed by VA, three to four hours of time and a possible cost of less than $20,000, where the same surgery done outside, with no complications runs nearly $100,000. How far does a budget go?

All this while we add a few new floors to the VA facility. We need all this but it must be intelligently proportioned and managed. VA needs so much equipment which really needs to go to non-functioning departments or at least minimally functioning departments, such as Neurology, a department in high demand now that baby boomers are here by the thousands.

Regarding people who can’t sign: I am personally against the stamp application. Working with disabled vets I find almost none who can’t pen their name in one way or another. If they can’t they most likely haven’t the ability to do so anymore and should not be voting any way. In the remote chance that a person can’t make their mark then the poles should have “volunteers” to help and the person should be known.

Keep the information coming and we will do our best to answer and get it out to those who are suppose to care about we veterans.

God be with you during the upcoming holiday seasons. Be careful and do your part for your countrymen and women. The future of our children and grand children depends on educated decisions. God Bless.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: The unfair resources of today’s “great game hunter”

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Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

When I was having my usual morning coffee and Danish at a local coffee shop last week following Sunday Mass, I happened to look up at a wide-screen television mounted on the wall to notice an outdoor show. It was your typical show, sponsored by outfitters, outdoor equipment companies and the opinions of various “expert” hunters.

The reason the show caught my attention was the way they were going about hunting. I remember the days when I was an avid hunter (my wife says I have since “lost the thrill of the hunt”), we used to have our favorite spots, get out early in the morning on a full stomach, brave the weather conditions and have great expectations for the outcome at the end of the hunt. It was the hunter vs the hunted. A classic exercise in who could out think, out maneuver or outwit the other. It was wild game hunting at its best. You needed to possess the skills to pursue your prey in its own environment, both parties equipped with all the instincts Mother Nature provided.

I can remember a couple of those adventures when the animal actually out-smarted me – something my wife says is easy to do (her opinion). I once followed a deer through the snow for many hundreds of yards, never catching sight of him, but I could hear him snorting up ahead of me, and hearing his antlers rattling against tree limbs. I followed him until we crossed our original tracks, and he actually passed through two conifers without disturbing a snowflake on the boughs. That was when I knew I was outwitted.

And that’s not to mention, probably, how many times I may have walked right past a deer and not noticed it was even there. They don’t have the nickname “swamp ghost” for nothing. They have this uncanny ability to disappear once they hit the tree line. Have you ever noticed while driving, when you may see a deer either in the road or on the shoulder, and it turns into the woods. As you pass by, try to locate it. They do seem to disappear.

On one day in particular, after having worked the night shift, I headed into the woods at sun up. I found a nice tree and sat down on the ground facing east, and soaked in the warmth of the sun. I fell asleep. I don’t know for how long, but my hunting partner eventually came along and told me a herd of deer could have walked right past me and I wouldn’t have noticed. Those are the stories you don’t forget.

Oh, by the way, I went home without a deer that day.

But that was then.

Today, it just isn’t fair. Here, on this show, they had hunters gathering on game farms, splashed with deer urine scent like it was Aqua Velva, equipped with global positioning equipment, calling the deer with artificial devices. Once the deer was lured, they employed a computerized gauge to calculate the distance to the target, refer to another hand-held instrument to measure the direction and velocity of the wind before finally sighting in the prey. Mounted on top of their high powered rifle was a scope capable of seeing a gnat’s tonsils at 200 yards.

The deer didn’t stand a chance. The only thing the hunters didn’t have were laser guided ammunition or “smart” bullets. After they dispatched the animal, they would break into a wild celebration. What’s with that?

If, after the use of all that sophisticated equipment, you didn’t come home with a deer that was essentially caged, you should be embarrassed to the point of taking up bowling. The whole episode was like shooting fish in a barrel.

So, I’ve decided that a money-making venture would be to make available to deer: human motion sensors, rear view mirrors, bullet proof vests, space-aged unpenetrable deflector shields a-la Star Trek, and laser guided bullet defense systems. After all, it’s only fair.

Remember the old saying, “We believe in the right to arm bears?” Well, the same could be said about deer.

HAS ANYONE NOTICED?

As of this writing, the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics and New England Patriots are all in first place in their respective league divisions. Let’s keep track and see how long it lasts.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Name the seven NFL teams with the initials of their cities on the side of their helmets.

Answer can be found here.

SOLON & BEYOND – Gallagher resigns: no special election planned

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, my friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

Selectman Keith Galla­gher is resigning effective November 28, 2019. He and his family are moving out of state in December. The selectmen are sad to see him leave. He has been a real asset to the town and brought new knowledge and insight to the Board of Selectmen.

The selectmen will not hold a special election to fill his seat. Instead at the March 2020 annual town meeting there will be two selectmen positions on the ballot, one a three-year term and one a one-year term. Selectman Sarah Davis will be running again for a three-year term.

Nomination papers will be available for the two selectmen positions and the road commissioner position on Friday, November 29, and due back by Tuesday, January 7. The nomination papers will be available from the town clerk and are required to have the signatures of at least 25 registered Solon voters when they are turned in.

For those considering the selectman position, remember the selectmen meet every Wednesday from 7:45 a.m. to noon and 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and 6 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Also in the spring they do property tax assessing several other days. Most of the work is done on computers using Word and Excel so familiarity with those programs is very helpful.

For those considering road commissioner a Class A or B driver license is needed along with knowledge of plowing, road maintenance, and equipment maintenance. It is a full time job with overtime when weather and/or road conditions demand it. The roadcommissioner is in charge of the road crew employees.

Elaine Aloes, selectman, town of Solon, PO Box 214, 121 South Main Street, Solon., Maine 04979, 207-643-2541- 2864, Fax. Office Hours Mon-Wed.Fri . 8 a.m. to noon and 1- 4 p.m., Wed., 6 to 7:45 p.m. Please visit the web site: solon.maine.gov.

Somerset County recently held its annual County Achievement Night at the Kennebec Valley Grange Hall, in Madison. The Solon Pine Tree 4H Club was the outstanding club in Somerset County. Several members received county awards in their projects. Kaitelyn De Leanardis in arts and crafts, Cooper Dellarmar, in forestry, for his maple syrup, Autumn Ladd, in dog, and Matthew Ladd, in poutlry.

FOR YOUR HEALTH – Ask The Doctor: Early Morning Challenges With ADHD

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(NAPSI)—ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder defined by impairing levels of inattention, disorganization, and/or hyperactivity-impulsivity. For people with ADHD, these behaviors are more severe, occur more often, and interfere with or reduce the quality of how they function socially, at school, or in a job.

Does your child with ADHD struggle in the morning?

Does your child with ADHD barely complete basic daily tasks, such as getting dressed, brushing teeth or simply eating breakfast? If so, you are not alone. In a survey of 200 parents with children diagnosed with ADHD, more than 90 percent felt that ADHD symptoms negatively impacted their early morning routine.

For families with children affected by ADHD, the early morning routine is challenging at best, chaotic at worst. Problems can impact every member of the family and set a negative tone for the rest the day. Dr. Ann Childress, a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist at Center for Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Inc. has many patients—and families—who struggle every morning simply to get out the door. Here are some of the most common questions she receives from these families—and her responses.

Why does my child with ADHD have so much difficulty in the morning?

The early morning routine can be especially challenging for people with ADHD. Getting ready for the day requires ongoing focus and depends upon our ability to remember and manage multi-step information, a capacity psychologists call working memory. Both children and adults with ADHD struggle with deficits in focus and/or working memory.

Getting ready for the day also requires us to finish many complex activities in a short time, such as completing a hygiene routine, making and eating breakfast, or packing a backpack, all before the school bus pulls up or the car pool arrives. Research shows that, when compared with typical peers, people with ADHD find it harder to gauge the passage of time—and thus find it more difficult to complete these early morning activities on time.

My child takes medication for ADHD that usually works. Why are mornings still so hard?

For individuals who rely on a stimulant medication to help them during the day, the early morning can still represent an ADHD blind spot. What does this mean? Most stimulant medications are taken in the morning with breakfast and they may take some time to work (anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours).6 Thus ADHD patients will not necessarily experience the benefits of ordinary stimulant medication in the early morning hours, making the morning routine one of the most difficult parts of the day for the patient-and for his or her loved ones.

My entire family has been negatively affected by one member’s early morning ADHD symptoms. What can I do to help?

Parents and caregivers can use behavioral strategies to improve specific behaviors that may prevent children from getting ready in the morning. Tactics to help children complete morning activities may include the following, either alone or in combination:

  • Setting multiple alarms to encourage timely completion of different tasks
  • Using behavior charts and incentive programs
  • Creating and using sequencing charts to outline the steps of critical activities
  • Utilizing checklists.

Some families choose to alter how they administer stimulant medications. In these cases, one parent or caregiver will wake and dose the child in the wee hours, approximately two hours prior to the family’s usual wakeup time. Next, the parent will encourage the child to go back to sleep, hoping the medication will take effect before breakfast.7 However, this routine often proves disruptive for both parent and child, both of whom may have difficulty returning to sleep.?

If you think ADHD has an impact on your mornings, consider taking a quiz at theADHDmorningquiz.com. The interactive quiz helps identify ADHD symptoms that make the morning routine a challenge. You’ll also be given access to a Doctor Discussion Guide to help start the conversation about mornings with ADHD.

Tips for Managing ADHD in the Morning

  • Be a morning realist. Setting unrealistic goals can set you up for failure. Being realistic about the early morning routine and adding a little more time to get things done will benefit the entire family.
  • Alarms aren’t just for waking up. Set ‘as you go’ alarms to make sure you’re not running overtime on each task. Remember to be practical about how long things may take.

Talking to Your Doctor

Once you’ve made the appointment with your doctor, start writing down what you want to discuss about your mornings with ADHD. Here are some suggestions from the Doctor Discussion Guide that you’ll find when you take theADHDmorningquiz.com:

  • Describe any challenges during the early morning routine.
  • How do these difficulties affect the rest of the day?
  • What specific ADHD symptoms are a problem in the early morning?
  • What actions have you taken to try to make mornings go more smoothly? How have those helped (if at all)?
  • Would it be helpful to have an ADHD medication that works when you wake up?

To learn more about morning challenges with ADHD, please visit www.adhdmorning.com.

SOLON & BEYOND: News from Solon Elementary School

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Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percyby Marilyn Rogers-Bull & Percy
grams29@tds.net
Solon, Maine 04979

Good morning, my friends. Don’t worry, be happy!

As always, I was very pleased to receive the Solon School News, to share with you. They have some great activities going on.

The Solon Civil Rights Team has had a busy start to the school year. Part of the Maine Civil Rights Team Project, it’s responsibility is for the education of young minds about matters of discrimination regarding race, religion, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender, and disability.

The team advisors are Mrs. Stevens and Mrs. Jillson. The team is made up of students in grades 4-5 who will organize activities for the school.

The team celebrated Unity Day on October 23. They asked students and staff members to wear orange in support of Unity Day, and there was a great response.

The Civil Rights Team ran a Halloween Dime Raffle in which they raised money to be used for T-shirts and for other team activities. They are sponsoring a Thanksgiving Food Drive from November 4-21 to benefit the Solon Food Cupboard.

The team has displayed a beautiful banner welcoming everyone to the school on Welcome Day, October 25.

The Solon Civil Right Team members are Isabella Atwood, Izaiah Busler,Kaylynn Clark, Amelia Cooper, Katelyn DeLeonardis, Katlin Dellarma, David Dixon, Emerson Golden, Veronica Hoffman, Alex Jerkins, Elijah Katz, Jayden McKenney, Joseph McLaughlin, Nevaeh Palmer, Riley Pelkey and Jillian Robinson.

In addition to a Civil Rights Team, they have a Kind Kids Club made up of K-3 students and run by Mrs. LaChance. All of the K-2 students do activities to show kindness to their classmates, school staff members, their families, and community members.

On October 10, the Solon Fire Department visited the school to do presentations about fire safety in conjunction with Fire Safety Week. Firefighters Todd Dixon and Jenny Rollins, of the Solon Fire Department, talked to students about how to keep safe in the event of a fire. The firefighters brought goodie bags for the students.

The school administration thanks the Solon Fire Department for their continuous education and support of the students at the school. First grade Naturalists at work. This fall Mrs. Campell’s first grade students watched their butterfly house as beautiful butterflies emerged from their chrysalides. The students released the butterflies outside the school.

There will be a Thanksgiving Food Drive from November 4-21. Please send in donations of nonperishable food items to help the students in this community service project. Food will be donated to the Solon Food Cupboard. Sponsored by the Solon Civil Rights Team.

Mark Your Calendar! No School Days: November 11 Veterans Day Holiday and November 27-29 Thanksgiving Break. Christmas Activites: December 9. District Chorus, Christmas Concert, 6 p.m., CCS. December 12 Solon Christmas Program, 6 p.m., and December 17, PTO Children’s Christmas Shopping Day (donations appreciated). PTO meeting on November 14 at 6 p.m.

Book Buddies Enjoy Books Together: Students in kindergarten and fifth grade are meeting once a week as book buddies. The older students read to the younger students and sometimes the younger students read to the older students.

Had lots of fun yesterday helping Amanda at the Christmas Fair, at Carrabec High School. There were lots and lots of other people there enjoying themselves as well. As I sat watching everyone, there were lots of hugs being exchanged with love; and I got lots also, from friends that I see there every year. Another thing that made my day was sitting there cuddling a precious little baby.

And now for Percy’s memoir: Each day you are provided many opportunities to practice peacemaking. St. Francis wrote, “For it is in giving that we receive.” By giving peace you will receive peace, and after you are at peace your problems all dissolve. By becoming a peacemaker you are literally providing yourself with a remedy for virtually all your anxious moments. Today be on the alert for any opportunity to become a peacemaker. (words by Wayne W. Dyer, There’s a Spiritual Solution to Every Problem.)

I know I dream a lot, but I used these same words for Percy’s memoir in this column in the October 19, 2017 issue. I hope some of you tried this advice. The world definitely needs all the help it can get!

I’M JUST CURIOUS: Uses for products you may have

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by Debbie Walker

I bought another book of different uses for regular products. The name of the book is CLEAN IT! FIX IT! EAT IT! It is authored by Joey Green; it is said that he has about 20 books published. I have enjoyed reading the content, have no idea if I will ever remember the ideas when I need the advice. I have not gathered information on all the ideas in the title, however, there is much more for a column at a later date. Let’s move on now:

DOWNY can be used as a hair conditioner: add a half a capful of liquid Downy to four cups of water. Pour through your hair. Rinse and, ta da, no tangles.

DOWNY will also eliminate static electricity from inside a car: Mix two teaspoons of Downy and one quart of water in a spray bottle. Spray fabric and carpeting. No more static! I will be using that one!

WD-40 is great if you get your hands all greasy while playing mechanic. Spray on hands, wipe with a paper towel, and then wash hands as usual. You can also use it to remove tar from your vehicle. We have Love-bugs here right now. They make a mess of the cars. I may just try this one, too.

Smirnoff Vodka can help as a hair product. Now don’t be upset, you will only be using one jigger of it. No, I know it wasn’t made for this purpose, but it works. Add one-ounce jigger to a 12 oz. bottle of shampoo. The alcohol will keep your scalp clean and remove the bad stuff.

Credit cards, the ones you get in the mail that serve no real purpose, can be useful for scraping dishes. I also understand they work well with frost or ice on the glass of your vehicle.

Morton Salt can be very useful when you drop an egg on the floor. Pour salt on the egg and let sit for one minute. Then you can easily pick up the egg with a paper towel.

Silly Putty, remember the toy(?), can be used to pick up small, dropped items like beads or get them out of crevices.

Purell Hand Sanitizer can be used to clean stains from plastic containers when washing.

Wilson Tennis Balls may seem like an odd thing to want to put in your swimming pool next summer, but it will collect the body oils. It’ll make cleaning easier.

Bounce sheets put on the floor of your boat before winter covering to prevent mice and raccoon from setting up camp for the winter. It works for special vehicles being stored for the winter.

Murphy’s Oil Soap can be used for washing your vehicle. It also leaves a shine and beads up when wet.

Barbasol Shaving Cream can be rubbed inside car windshield and wipe off with a clean cloth to prevent fogging.

Colgate Toothpaste, put a dab on a pimple at night and the next day wash off.

Bag Balm will take care of the worst of diaper rash on the baby. I know this one personally. It saved my sanity with my daughter’s rash about 49 years ago.

I am just curious how many of these things you will try and what others you know about? Contact me with your questions or comments at dwdaffy@yahoo.com. Thanks for reading and have a great week!

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Herb Alpert: Magic Man

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Sergio Mendes

Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Herb Alpert

Magic Man
A&M records, SP-3728, LP, recorded 1981.

Now 84 years old, trumpeter Herb Alpert staked his claim to fame back in the early ‘60s with the series of Tijuana Brass albums that sold in the millions as vinyl LPs and continue to do well in CD formats. His A&M label has been home to Sergio Mendes and HIS Brazil ’66, Procol Harum, the Sandpipers, the Carpenters, Burt Bacharach, Janet Jackson, etc.

Magic Man is best described as soft jazz/pop. Alpert utilized a full rhythm section; synthesizers; conventional piano, and Rhodes, and other electric pianos; harp, guitars; his own trumpet and other brass; special percussion instruments including marimbas, vibes, bongos and congas; strings; and vocalists, including himself.

This album consists of eight selections, including the title song, itself a huge hit. All of them are captivating in some fashion; my particular favorites are Secret Garden, with its bass/guitar weavings; the vintage pop classic, Besame Mucho, which contains hypnotic bongo/conga sounds; and a lovely ballad, I Get It from You, sung by Alpert. All of them can be heard on YouTube .

Since 1973, Herb Alpert has been married to Lani Hall, former lead singer for Brazil ’66; its leader, Sergio Mendes, married her replacement, Gracinha.

From E.B.White’s 1942 book, One Man’s Meat, about November on his farm in Maine: ”The wind blew from the South­east and brought rain and the dreariest landscape of the fall. For several hours after arising, everything went wrong; it was one of those days when inanimate objects deliberately plot to destroy a man cleverly ambushed, and when dumb animals form a clique to disturb the existing order.”

AARP SCAM ALERT: Bank Imposter Scam

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A new scam that has emerged this summer involves criminals posing as bank representatives and offering to pick up a customer’s “compromised” bank card. This scam originates over the phone with the impostor offering to send a ”senior services” agent to the house to pick up the credit card or debit card and PIN so the problem can be fixed. The crook then racks up credit card debt or drains checking accounts attached to debit cards.

Know this: banks don’t have “senior service centers” from which they send bank employees to your home. If you get a call like this, hang up.

Be a fraud fighter! If you can spot a scam, you can stop a scam.

Visit the AARP Fraud Watch Network at www.aarp.org/fraudwatchnetwork or call the AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 1-877-908-3360 to report a scam or get help if you’ve fallen victim.