REVIEW POTPOURRI – Musician: Sidney Bechet; Albums: Charlie Daniels Band; Opera: Bellini

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Sidney Bechet

The Blue Bechet
RCA Victor LPV-535, LP reissue of 78 originals, released 1966.

Sidney Bechet

To call Sidney Bechet (1897-1959) an ornery cuss would be an understatement. He was COLD – willfully mean, self-centered, and capricious in his cruelty to others. One night, he was drinking tiny glasses of booze, one after another, while listening to a performer he didn’t like in a club. As he emptied each glass, he would throw it at the player.

He was also one supremely talented performer on the clarinet and soprano sax. His playing had an expressive beauty that was uniquely his own. There is not a single selection among the 16 on the above record that is less than good.

Charlie Daniels Band

In America; Blue Skies
Epic- 9-50888, stereo 45, recorded 1979.

Charlie Daniels

Now 81, Charlie Daniels and his band have carved out a significant niche in what could best be described as country rock, tinged with blues. He formed the group in 1955, shortly after high school graduation, but it didn’t hit pay dirt until the mid-’70s, later escalating in 1979 with The Devil Went Down to Georgia.

In America was a patriotic reaction to the Iran hostage crisis and a good example of the six member group’s thoroughly drilled ensemble. Still, for my money, the B side, Blue Star, is an even stronger number in musical content and precision teamwork. Yet it is not listed in the otherwise thorough discography of the band on Wiki, despite the band’s success since 1979,

Daniels’s health has suffered at various times – from an arm severely broken in three places by a spinning auger, prostate cancer, pneumonia, a stroke and the installation of a pacemaker. In 2011, tragedy struck when the band’s longtime keyboardist, Taz DiGregorio, died in an automobile accident at 67.

But Daniels stays busy touring and has been honored for his musical contributions by official membership in the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Bellini

Sonnambula- Ah! Non Credea Mirarti (Could I Believe), from Act 3
Alma Gluck, soprano, with Walter B. Rogers conducting; Victrola-74263, acoustic 12-inch 78, recorded 1911.

Vincenzo Bellini

Although I do have several operas of Vincenzo Bellini (1801-1835) on my shelves, I have not ever connected with them on the deepest level, as I have with ones by Rossini, Donizetti, Ponchielli, Verdi and Puccini – these being the most representative composers/geniuses in the Italian tradition. This disc of the great Alma Gluck (1884-1938) may change my attitude.

First, some context on the opera – it was a hit from the beginning and, inevitably, been used as a vehicle for singers with high notes of steel and beauty; the most famous interpreters are probably Maria Callas and Joan Sutherland, whose recordings are readily available.

The aria is most often referred to as the Sleepwalking Scene in which the heartbroken heroine is, naturally, walking in a deep sleep along a precipice. There are exquisite, separate obliggatos for the oboe and cello in which they blend with the singer. Some good news – the lady does not jump or fall, except in her lover’s arms and happily ever after.

For sheer beauty of phrasing and sustained line, Gluck rose so eloquently to the occasion. Her other Victor records, no matter whether opera arias or hymns, were consistently enjoyable. A shellac from the mid 1900s of Carry Me Back to Old Virginny was the first record by a classical artist to sell a million copies!

Finally, she was the mom of actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.

PAGES in TIME: Maine is the main thing

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by Milt Huntington

Just when you think everything good about the State of Maine has been said or read, you come across another platitude from another source that makes your chest swell with pride. Here we go again.

Almost every time I look out the window or go for a ride in the car, I see something else that makes me thankful that I live here in the Pine Tree State. Before I attempt to wax eloquently about my personal love for this incredible place, let me offer my credentials.

I was born on Bay View Street in Belfast, Maine, a stone’s throw from the harbor. It was on those rocky shores I played with my toy soldiers, watched the tides come and go, and sat behind a sloping ledge pretending I was operating a ship. I caught flounders off the Belfast wharf and picked berries on the embankments leading to the beach. I observed the mail boat arriving each day from Castine and the humongous Boston Boat when it docked on the outside of the wharf to discharge passengers from away. No one ever had a better playground than I. We moved to Augusta when I was ten.

To add further to my Maine credentials, I had the enviable pleasure of working with the old Maine Department of Economic Development. Equipped with a typewriter and camera, I was charged with the responsibility of promoting Maine’s recreational, agricultural and industrial pursuits. Talk about a labor of love, I would have done it for nothing. Well, maybe that’s carrying my enthusiasm a little far.

I did, however, serve without pay, as president of the Maine Publicity Bureau. In my days of work and play, I got to know Maine pretty well. I think back on those days of joy and remember attending the New England Governors’ Conference, in Rangeley, which was set deep in the woods on Kennebago Lake.

I was afforded the opportunity to handle publicity when Maine officials went to Fenway Park on Maine Day, and when Governor John Reed went to New York City for the opening of No Strings. The Broadway play, starring Richard Kiley and Dianne Carroll, featured a song about the Pine Tree State. It was called Maine is the Maine Thing, by Rogers and Hart. One verse went: “The fields and streams are like a frozen cup.” It stunk! So did the play. It closed after a couple of weeks.

We also visited back stage during rehearsals with the likes of Perry Como, Carol Burnett, Don Knots, Gary Moore and a bunch of other well-known stars of the day. Perry Como didn’t like Maine lobsters, but I photographed him with a dead one anyway. We orchestrated a contest between Maine clam chowder and Manhattan clam chowder. Maine won in the judgment of a nutritionist from Harvard who also raved about the healthful values of Maine sardines.

As far as Maine Day at Fenway Park is concerned, the DED and Old Orchard Beach cooked up a scheme to promote that incredible Beach area. Old Orchard girls, during the seventh inning stretch, swept the outfield with brooms to accentuate the cleanliness of their white sand beaches. Best of all, however, a ten-foot-long hot dog was trucked from Maine but became impounded by Bay State troopers for some perceived violation of the Pure Foods Act. Imagine the publicity we got with a story about a hotdog from Maine that was arrested in Massachusetts.

I was there for the dedication of Two Lights State Park, in Cape Elizabeth, having written the speech for Governor Reed who delivered the message against the beautiful backdrop of the Atlantic Ocean. Lady Bird Johnson was a special guest when she was the wife of the vice president. I heard her say she didn’t like potatoes, and I heard her aide say, “Yes you do. You’re in Maine.” Lady Bird proceeded to fill her plate.

On another occasion, I escorted a Japanese film star and her crew along the length of our marvelous coast as they filmed it all because it reminded them so much of the coast of northern Japan. The cute little Japanese TV star ate lobsters raw in Tennant’s Harbor and filmed seagulls the same day on a Bar Harbor wharf.

My other publicity score was when I was publicizing Maine at the Eastern States Exposition, in Springfield, Massachusetts. We had somehow arranged to obtain as a model for the day – Tina Louise, who appeared as Ginger Grant on the TV comedy Gilligan’s Island. I got to drive her around in my family car and photograph her in a Maine potato sack. My picture went everywhere thanks to the Associated Press.

Milt Huntington is the author of “A Lifetime of Laughter and Things That Make You Grin.”

ERIC’S TECH TALK: On the internet, the product being sold is you!

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by Eric W. Austin

How does it feel, sitting there on the digital shelf? Have you checked your best-buy date? I think I’m still good for a few more years yet.

It may not feel like it, but on the internet, the product companies are selling is you. Facebook isn’t a social media company, it’s a people factory. It processes you, formats you, and wraps you up in a neat little database. Then it mass produces you and sells you at a discount to anyone with a credit card.

Four years ago, a British political consulting firm named Cambridge Analytica, colluded in a campaign to capture profile information from Facebook users. In the end, it would lead to a scandal involving the user information of more than 70 million Americans, the use of psychometrics as a new political tool, and an influence campaign that may have turned the tide in two world-altering elections a continent apart.

Let’s start at the beginning. In 2014, a lecturer from Cambridge University, Aleksandr Kogan, formed a UK company called Global Science Research (GSR). He then developed a Facebook app posing as a personality survey. He paid American Facebook users $1 to $4 to download the app and fill out the personality test, for a total of nearly $800,000. In the process, those users gave the app permission to collect their profile data. Whether Kogan did this on his own or at the encouragement of Cambridge Analytica is open to debate, depending with whom you talk.

In any case, around 270,000 people downloaded the app and filled out the survey. Next to America’s population of 325 million, that may not sound like many people, but under Facebook rules at the time (which were changed in 2015 in response to this incident), when users gave the app permission to collect their profile data, they also gave the app permission to collect the profile information of their friends as well. Since the average Facebook user has between 100-500 friends, this meant the app was able to collect the profile information of nearly 87 million people.

The data they collected wasn’t simply ordinary information like work history and places lived. They also pulled other user data which Facebook collects, such as the posts you’ve ‘liked,’ status updates you’ve posted, and the groups you belong to.

Kogan then began working with another company, Strategic Communications Laboratories (SCL), the parent company of the aforementioned Cambridge Analytica. Up until this point, Kogan had not done anything illegal or against Facebook’s terms and conditions. But when he shared the data with SCL, he broke Facebook’s rules, which stipulate data acquired through an app cannot be shared with another entity without first obtaining Facebook’s permission.

SCL is a private behavioral research and strategic communications company, purchased by billionaire conservative donor, Robert Mercer, in 2013. They analyze large sets of data and attempt to identity patterns in it for use in political marketing. Taking Kogan’s data, with information about pages you follow, posts you like and create, comments you leave, and much, much more, a team of psychologists and data analysts looked for ways to target people for maximum effect. It’s called psychographic profiling and it’s the new weapon in political warfare.

Let me give you a real-world example of the type of data these apps collect. If I go to my Facebook settings and select ‘Apps,’ I get a list of the apps that I’ve used on Facebook. Clicking on an app pulls up a screen that tells me what permissions I have granted. In the app “80’s One Hit Wonders,” which I don’t even remember signing up for, it lists nearly 20 different categories of information to which the app has access. This includes my hometown, birth-date, friends list, work and education history, religious and political views, status updates and more than a dozen other categories. I am most definitely deleting this app.

This is the type of information Kogan shared with Cambridge Analytica, through their parent company SCL. Cambridge Analytica, a subsidiary of SCL founded just after Mercer’s acquisition of the company, was the brainchild of Mercer political advisor and former Trump Chief Strategist, Steve Bannon. The creation of Cambridge Analytica was an attempt to harness the psychological techniques of its parent company for the domestic political scene, and was used by several important political campaigns, including those of Ted Cruz and Donald Trump, as well as the Brexit initiative which successfully withdrew the United Kingdom from the European Union.

What sets SCL and Cambridge Analytica apart from other similar data-marketing companies is the way they approach their influence campaigns. They employ a developing science called “psychographic targeting.” This is the process of tweaking your market-targeting based on the psychological characteristics of your intended audience.

Cambridge Analytica’s parent company, SCL, first honed its skills in cyber-psychological warfare by messing with the elections in developing countries: “Psyops. Psychological operations – the same methods the military use to effect mass sentiment change,” a former Cambridge Analytica employee told The Guardian in May 2017. “It’s what they mean by winning ‘hearts and minds.’ We were just doing it to win elections in the kind of developing countries that don’t have many rules.”

This anonymous former employee is speaking about the company’s work prior to 2013, before the success of SCL’s foreign influence campaigns attracted the interest of wealthy American hedge fund manager and tech entrepreneur, Robert Mercer, and his political ally, Steve Bannon, who were looking to bring those modern techniques of psychological warfare to the political battlefield back home.

Imagine targeting users who are members of the Facebook group, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), with ads depicting horrific car crashes and a message suggesting one of the candidates in a political race will go easy on drunk drivers. Would such a campaign be likely to sway some of those voters, even if its claims were untrue?

Now, in lieu of drunk driving, imagine instead targeting the darkest aspects of human nature: racism, hate, sexism, the worst extremes of political partisanship. Afraid someone will take away your guns? There’s an ad for that. Worried about your religious liberty? Don’t worry, there’s an ad for that. Hate immigrants or Muslims? There’s a – well, you get the picture.

And it gets even more deeply duplicitous than that. Not only did they target the most vulnerable people on the political fringe, but those targeted ads might link to articles on fake news websites which look eerily similar to real news sites like Fox or MSNBC. The whole idea is to trick visitors into thinking they are viewing an article from a legitimate source. The web address of the page might be “msnbc.com.co” but most people won’t even notice the extra “co” at the end. Even the links back to the homepage at the top of the article will likely take visitors back to the real MSNBC website, so that anyone leaving the page will think they’ve just read an article published and endorsed by a legitimate news organization. In this way, innocent people become unwitting conspirators in spreading fake news; and it helps fuel the public’s current distrust of national news sources.

This scandal with Cambridge Analytica has caused an identity crisis for Facebook, too. On the surface, Facebook appears to be a platform designed to facilitate communication, and that is the description promoted by the company itself, but a number of cracks have begun to show through this carefully constructed facade.

The scary truth, which nobody wants to talk about, is that Facebook is a company designed to make money for its creators and stockholders. It does this by encouraging the sharing of personal data by its users, and then making that information available for use by marketers who buy ads on the platform. The more users the platform has, and the more data those users share, the more valuable Facebook is to its investors. Facebook is confronted with the dilemma of needing to reassure its users that their information is safe, even as their business model is designed to exploit the information of those very same users.

Facebook itself is built to addict its users. The more people using the platform, the more ads that can be shown, and the more money Facebook makes. The constant endorphin-spiking feedback loop of likes, notifications and updates, serves to addict users as surely as any drug. “They’ve created the attention economy and are now engaged in a full-blown arms race to capture and retain human attention, including the attention of kids,” says Tristan Harris, a former Google design ethicist, who now serves as a senior fellow for the nonprofit advocacy group, Common Sense Media.

The internet has changed the face of commerce. But the most important product being purchased on the internet is not the latest toy marketed on Amazon, or the newest video streaming service. In the internet age, the most valuable commodity is you. Your information, your vote, and your efforts in pushing the agenda of those with money, means, and power.

Eric W. Austin lives in China and writes about community issues and technology. He can be reached by email at ericwaustin@gmail.com.

SOLON & BEYOND: Invitation for bids out for road projects in Solon

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

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

Now for some news from the Solon Selectmen’s Office, from a statement given to me: You have been invited to bid on our 2018 Road Project. Project: repave Meeting House Road and South Solon Road. Bid deadline: April 25, 2018 at 6:30 p.m.

Bids must be filed with the Town Clerk at the Solon Town Office in a sealed envelope with “Road Bid” written on it. If mailed, mail to PO Box 214, Solon, Maine 04979; 207-643-2541 or Fax 207-643-2864 and “Attention Selectmen – Road Bid.” If hand delivered, it must be in a sealed envelope with “Road Bid” written on the envelope. No bids will be accepted after 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, April 25, 2018. The job must be completed by October 1, 2018.

Bids will be opened and read aloud at the meeting of the selectmen at the Solon Town Office Conference Room on Wednesday, April 25, at 6:30 p.m. After consideration of all bids the selectmen will announce their decision. The selectmen reserve the right to waive all formalities and to accept or reject any or all bids.

We reserve the right to accept or reject any and or all bids.

The newly-elected selectman, Keith Gallagher, will be taking over the position of overseeing the Solon Transfer Station and Tree Growth. Kerry Evangelista is now on the planning board. There are openings for anyone interested on the Coolidge Library Board and planning board.

Several notices have been sent out for tax liens.

That seems to be all the real news I could gather up this week, always waiting for your e-mails and letters telling about what’s going on in your life to share.

Several times during the many years I have been writing for different papers, people have told me, “You should write a book!” The other day when I was going through some boxes I found an envelope with three little books, (3″ x 3″) that I had made out of folded paper and written stories in them, way back when I was a child in Flagstaff. The names of these books were, The Book of an Adventure, Pailsblue, A Book of the Color, and The Book of Adventures and Buckingbronkos. (As you can see, my spelling wasn’t the best way back then!)

The word buckingbronkos brought back many memories and wonderment that I’m still alive to tell the story! I grew up on a farm and one day two of my cousins and I were in a pig pen where there were also apple trees, (I figure we were after the nice juicy apples)….But ….the older cousin dared me to ride a great big fat old pig! He was certainly old enough to know better, but I never turned down a dare, and probably too young to know better. My two cousins caught the pig and proceeded to put me on his back. My short little legs were not long enough to reach very far around his big fat old body, and, of course, there were no reins. As I can remember, it was a very short rough ride until he bucked me off on a huge, hard rock! Maybe some day when I don’t have real news, I’ll share this little book with you, then I can say, it was published! (what do you say, Roland?) In my later years, I’ve wondered if maybe I hit my head on the rock and that is why I’m such a nut now??

And now for Percy’s memoir entitled Sunshine: Come out into the sunlight, Heart of mine; Why linger in the shadows And repine! Winter’s snows can’t last forever, Neither pain; Oh, come out into the sunlight Once again! In the blue the birds were singing Up above; Throw away thy gloom and sadness All is love! Oh, come out into the sunshine, Soul of mine; Never wert thou made for darkness, Love is thine! (words by Ralph Spaulding Cushman.)

Lief and I went snowshoeing one beautiful bright sunshiny day recently and it was a great feeling to be out and about in such glory to behold!

FOR YOUR HEALTH – Help Detector Dogs: Don’t Pack A Pest

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(NAPSI) — If you’ve returned to the U.S. from an international trip, you’ve no doubt seen beagles with blue jackets sniffing luggage in the baggage claim area. Visitors to Hawaii and Puerto Rico may also see these four-legged officers in green jackets helping to find prohibited fruits and vegetables hidden in luggage. As cute as they are, these detector dogs, who work alongside U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and USDA, are performing an important job. They are helping to keep harmful invasive pests out of our country, including 19 called Hungry Pests, which can severely damage our crops, trees and landscapes.

Invasive pests cost our country $40 billion each year in damages and related costs. They come from other countries and can spread quickly, since they have few natural predators here. These invasive insects and plant diseases are the reason we are losing oranges to citrus greening disease, and ash trees—a popular shade tree in parks and communities—to the emerald ash borer beetle. But by knowing what not to bring back, you can help protect so much that we love.

Detector dogs help human inspectors catch incoming materials that may be otherwise overlooked. Through their keen sense of smell, the dogs can quickly scan unopened bags and alert USDA and Customs officials as to which ones should be hand-inspected. In fact, dogs are able to detect a single scent among many overlapping ones. And, on average, they have hundreds of millions of scent-detecting cells, as compared to humans, who only have five million.

Why are beagle and beagle mixes chosen for this role? Because of their smaller size and gentle disposition, they are good around people and tend not to be intimidating. They also have a keen appetite, so happily train and work for treats. Most of the dogs come from shelters. Those selected are sent to the USDA National Detector Dog Training Center in Georgia, where they go through rigorous training. Those who successfully complete the program become detector dogs.

Be thankful these dogs are trained to find prohibited items before they enter the States. A seemingly harmless piece of fruit could carry an invasive pest hidden inside. And if it finds its way to your neighborhood, your trees and plants could be its next target for destruction.

So, what is safe to bring back home? Small quantities of canned foods or foods packed in vacuum-sealed jars (except those that contain meat or poultry) are generally allowed. Some fresh fruits, vegetables, plants, flowers and agriculture items may also be allowed, but only after they’ve been inspected and cleared by USDA or Customs officials. Be sure to visit USDA’s “Traveler Information” page before your return trip to learn more and always declare all food, plants and other agriculture items to USDA or Customs officials.

When it comes to protecting our country from invasive pests, you can make all the difference. Be wise when traveling and know what’s safe to bring back, so you don’t pack a pest. Learn more by visiting www.HungryPests.com.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Those pesky, uninvited, intruding house guests

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Roland D. Halleeby Roland D. Hallee

I’m not talking about Martha Stewart etiquette here. I’m talking about house mice that come in uninvited and overstay their welcome. I dealt with mice at camp last summer when I trapped 13 during the season, and I am in a constant battle to keep them out.

Now, I’m dealing with them in my house. My wife and I have lived in our present location in Waterville for 42 years, and never encountered a mouse – until this past weekend.

While rearranging the cellar way where I keep a vegetable bin, a compost bucket and a sundry of cleaning materials, I noticed a bag of grass seed that had been invaded, with the ever-present mouse droppings everywhere. I managed to trap one on each of Saturday and Sunday. The trap was empty Monday morning. Maybe that was it. We’ll see.

They could be either a house mouse, field mouse or meadow vole.

A small mammal, although a wild animal, the meadow vole, Microtus pennsylvanicus, sometimes called a field mouse, are active year round.

A lot of people confuse the field mouse with house mice. They are a little different. A house mouse in uniformly brown-gray, right down to the tail. They typically have small hands and feet with big eyes and ears. And if you have a house mouse, you will know it because of its strong smell.

The field mouse has sandy brown fur and a white to gray belly. A cautious mouse which always sniffs anything unfamiliar before approaching, this mouse does not have a very strong smell. Which, obviously, is why I didn’t know we had mice in the house. There was no odor. The mice I have been catching also have white bellies.

The meadow vole has the widest distribution of any North American species. It ranges from Labrador west to Alaska and south from Labrador and New Brunswick to South Carolina all the way west to Wyoming. They are also found in Washington, Idaho and Utah.

Meadow voles have to eat frequently, and their active periods are associated with food digestion. They have no clear 24-hour rhythm in many areas.

Left, house mouse; center, field mouse; right, meadow vole.

Contrary to what you see in the cartoons, mice do not like cheese. They actually like to eat fruits, seeds and grains. They are omnivorous, which means they eat both plants and meat. The common house mouse will eat just about anything it can find. In fact, if food is scarce, they will eat each other. (I bait my traps with peanut butter – works every time!) They have voracious appetites, and usually build their nests near places that have readily accessible food sources.

Male mice are usually ready to mate after six to eight weeks. One captive female produced 17 litters in one year for a total of 83 young. One of her young produced 13 litters (totaling 78 young) before she was a year old.

But, I’m not completely convinced we have meadow voles. They could be house mice or field mice. They seem to have those characteristics. I thought they might be house mice because they are more adaptable to humans than meadow voles. But, again, we didn’t get the strong odor from a house mouse, and the mice I’m catching have a white belly, which the field mouse has, and not the house mouse. The meadow vole doesn’t usually enter homes, but rather prefers dense, gassy areas, and winters under the snow near some natural formation such as a rock or log.

The house mouse, Mus musculus, originally came from Asia, colonizing in new continents with the movement of people. Either of the three species can transmit diseases, though not on the same scale as rats.

The house mouse lives more comfortably with humans, while field mice, Apodemus sylvaticus, prefer to live underground, although they will, from time to time, enter buildings.

The house mouse and field mouse are nocturnal and are active only at night, while meadow voles have no time schedule. My little intruders seem to be active only after dark.

They also have strange names. Females are does, males are bucks and babies are called pinkies. In the wild, the life span of mice is usually one to two-and-a-half years.

There is, pretty much, an argument that we could have any of the three species. Whichever one we have, they are not welcome.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

This pitcher, who played for the Chicago Cubs and Boston Red Sox, is the only Canadian-born player in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Answer can be found here.

IF WALLS COULD TALK: Last week’s program was about Lyme disease

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Katie Ouilette Wallsby Katie Ouilette

WALLS, the program that we did last Tuesday, March 27, and that Laurie Denis suggested I talk with Jim Fortunato, of Redington-Fairview General Hospital, in Skowhegan, was absolutely fantastic. Host, Chris Perkins and I were happy with what Jim had done for you, for sure. Betsy Putnam, MT, RN, talked about Lyme Disease and, since I got that tick bite when living in Littleton, New Hampshire, 30 years ago, I was especially interested in all that has been done, since 30 years ago, no one knew about treating it. Yes, faithful readers, that is why it is named Lyme Disease, because it was discovered in Lyme, Connecticut! A while ago, when we had someone visit, I was asked why I had no cupboard door in our kitchen. Well, that little tick made me so weak that 30 years ago, it took two hands to lift my toothbrush and, just in case, I opted for no cupboard doors, as there was a day when I didn’t have strength to open cupboards, also.

Also, Jim asked Andrea Fortin to tell our TV audience to tell all that Redington-Fairview General Hospital is doing with folks who may have a danger of falling….no matter what a person’s ago.

The entire program was truly interesting. Now, lucky faithful readers, you may hear about Lyme Disease at Poulin-Turner Hall, 653 Waterville Road in Skowhegan on Saturday, April 7, from 9:30 to 11 a.m.

Now, faithful readers, don’t say you’ve heard all that there is to know about Lyme! There are new discoveries all the time….and, take it from one who knows, those discoveries include everything from clothes to sprays. There was a day 30 years ago when local doctors didn’t know how to treat anyone (including me), but much has changed and constantly. Yes, I’ll see you on April 7!

When you read this, you will have had a very happy Easter, WALLS hope. So, if the weather isn’t exactly what we ordered, enjoy the weather that is waiting. Lew’s and my family reaches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, so we will be in touch by phone with our Washington State family. Even my kiddos are scattered in Maine, but we are grateful that they have enjoyed, too. Aren’t we lucky to have grandchildren and great-grandkids to have had the Easter Bunny visit them. Yes, we all grow up and older, but we are sure lucky to have our Grands and great-grands that help us to believe.

I’m Just Curious: Facts about food

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by Debbie Walker

I am sure there are facts about some foods that I would rather not know about. The ones that follow weren’t too bad:

There was a time when I would not ask what a buffalo wing was. I was afraid of finding out! You see I have lived a sheltered life. Little did I know the dish was invented in the 1960s? It was chicken! A restaurant owner fried some chicken wings and served them with hot sauce and bleu cheese for dipping. They were called Buffalo wings because the restaurant was in Buffalo, New York.

Most people know honey is the only food that never spoils. It has been said honey buried in an Egyptian tomb, after thousands of years, still tasted sweet.

Chocolate chip cookies started out as Toll House cookies because they were made in a Massachusetts Inn called Toll House. One of the owners ran out of nuts so they decided to add pieces chipped from a chocolate bar. Ta-Da – chocolate chip cookies!

Hot dogs have quite a history. They started as frankfurters because they started out in Frankfurt, Germany, in the Middle Ages. Next they were known as hot dachshund sausage; of course, people were reminded of long bodied pooches. They are now known as hot dogs. Whatever the name they are pretty popular. I’ll have relish with mine!

As we all know popcorn explodes before it becomes edible. Kernels of popcorn contain a small amount of water which turns to steam when heated. The steam can’t escape from a kernel’s hard shell. So pressure builds inside the kernel until – pop – it explodes! Would you like more butter!

I like this one about Swiss cheese; not sure I will ever eat it again though. With all the holes it looks like it was hit by bird shot! Those holes are actually caused by bacteria. This kind of bacteria isn’t harmful. It helps ripen the flavor of the cheese. As cheese ripens, the bacteria give off gases that make bubbles, creating the holes in Swiss cheese. I wonder how much of the charge by the pound includes the holes………’just saying.’

Okay, that is enough about food, not because it is making me hungry. It’s because I am wondering what else I don’t know about food and don’t want to know!

If you have ever been in a vehicle accident maybe you will understand my feelings about the whole mess. First, I am aggravated that my favorite auto was “totaled” and the insurance company doesn’t figure value quite like I do. Second, I am aggravated because the person at fault evidently figured he was in more of a hurry then the rest of us on the same road. He pulled out into our lane….. Guess what. His “hurrying” cost him a lot more time than the waiting he might have experienced behind that car. As for us, we went on quite a roller coaster ride what with going up on the snow banks and just missing stationery mail boxes. So, I am just curious if you will be conscious of your own patience or lack of…

Reach me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com for all your questions or comments. Thanks for reading and don’t forget we are on line too.

REVIEW POTPOURRI – Conductor: Paul Kletzki; Musical: Wonderful Town; Violin Concerto: Walton

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Peter Catesby Peter Cates

Beethoven: Symphony No. 7

Paul Kletzki conducting the Czech Philharmonic; Quintessence PMC-7216; stereo LP, 1983 reissue of 1967 Supraphon original LP.

Paul Kletzki

Paul Kletzki, who died in 1973, was one of six truly great conductors – the others being Jascha Horenstein, Karel Ancerl, Hans Schmidt-Isserstedt, Otto Klemperer and Istvan Kertesz. From what I have gleaned through listening to the recordings on my shelves, Kletzki had a knack for the rhythmic spirit in a work and sustaining this rhythm throughout a performance with slowish tempos that almost drag. His conducting of the 7th is both powerful and beautifully played as a result – in the wonderful climax of the first movement, he suddenly slows down the leisurely tempo to a crawl but the sustaining rhythms seethe with life. The record also contains a gripping performance of the exciting Leonore Overture #3.

Kletzki was studying in Berlin from the ‘20s to 1933 but wisely left due to his Jewish ancestry. He resided in Italy for a spell, then exited for the 1930s Soviet Union due to Mussolini’s growing closeness to Hitler. From the Soviet Union, he migrated to Switzerland where he lived out most of his life!

Meanwhile the Nazis murdered several members of Kletzki’s parents and a sister.

Wonderful Town

A musical by Leonard Bernstein, starring Rosalind Russell, etc.; Sony Broadway SK 48021, 1991 cd reissue from original Columbia Masterworks stereo lp recorded November 16, 1958.

Rosalind Russell

This is a recording of the 1958 TV production for CBS, not the 1953 original Broadway production, and is loaded with wonderful songs and performances, none of which became a hit, unlike the later 1957 West Side Story. The story centers around two sisters from Columbus, Ohio, who move to New York City to pursue their dreams- one a writer, the other an actress !

Walton

Violin Concerto played by Dong-Suk Kang; and Cello Concerto, played by Tim Hugh; Paul Daniel conducting both works with the English Northern Philharmonia; Naxos 8.554325, CD, recorded 1997.

Dong-Suk Kang

These two expessively tart, spunky works of Sir William Walton (1902-1983) are given exciting performances by the talent featured here. Walton achieved success before World War II with such musical creations as the blisteringly exciting 1931 Bel shazzar’s Feast, the most colorful choral romp ever composed, and the graceful 1939 Violin Concerto commissioned by Jascha Heifetz; after the war, his music didn’t generate much excitement because of changing times. But his 1956 Cello Concerto, commissioned by cellist Grigor Piatigorsky, is also eloquent and beautifully performed.

Pages in Time: Memories are made of these

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by Milt Huntington

Sit back, relax, and make a few withdrawals from your collective memory banks while I dredge up a few nostalgia nuggets of my own.

I had the honor of speaking at my 60th Cony High School class reunion a while ago and used the occasion to delve into the pages of yesteryear where fond and distant memories were lurking.

I assured my classmates that some things never change like the Hartford Fire Station whistle that still sounds religiously every single day at 12:30 p.m. and again at 9 o’clock. I reminded them that the State House and the Blaine Mansion are still there along with the old Post Office, the Armory, the AMHI buildings and of course the old flatiron building where long ago they built a school upon a hill.

Speaking to a room-full of Cony grads from here and away, I reminded them of the icons of long ago that no longer exist–places like the Augusta House, Jose Motors, the State Street Diner, Forrest’s Drug Store and the A&P. Gone, all gone, I lamented are our old hangouts like McAuley’s Restaurant on Outer Western Avenue, Doc’s Lunch, Mike’s Lunch, The Roseland, Foster’s Smoke Shop, McNamara’s and the Oxbow out in Winthrop. We still all smile with happy memories when we hear of Island Park.

It was my sad duty to remind folks that McLellan’s, Kresge’s and Woolworth;s have all disappeared from downtown Water Street. No more can they visit Penny’s, Montgomery Ward, Sears & Roebuck, Adam’s, Chernowsky’s, Farrell’s Clothing Store, Nicholson & Ryan’s or Bilodeau’s jewelry stores.

Other institutions that have faded into the pages of time include: the Colonial and Capitol theaters, the drugstores with the wonderful pinball machines, the barber shops, the beer joints, the Depot News, the Army-Navy store, Foster’s Smoke Shop and the Hotel North.

Stealing thoughts from one of my earlier columns, I pushed some buttons of memory concerning the clothes that all of us wore. The boys of the 40’s and 50’s wore maroon corduroy jackets with plaid trousers rolled up at the cuffs. Their shoes consisted of white bucks or penny loafers. Crew cuts were far and away the style of the day. I wish I could grow one now.

The Cony girls of long ago displayed pony tails, up-do’s or page boys, and they looked “sharp” in blue velvet, sweaters, clinging skirts, Gibson Girl blouses and midi-skirts. Their feet were decked with bobby sox, white sneakers and saddle shoes.

The guys never called them “cool.” Nah! They called them sharp, groovy, snazzy or neat. Today, of course, all the younger whippersnappers say “like” and “you know” most of the time. Not all the time, just when they open their mouths. It doesn’t take much to get me going on that subject. I think of the the Red Sox pitcher I watched who said “you know” 32 times in a three minute television interview. I expressed my amazement that a lot of college graduates who go on to sports never learned to exhibit some degree of articulateness.

Seizing my moment in the spotlight, I dug down deep to dredge up memories of icons of 60 years ago and more. I asked them to sink into the depths of their memories to remember stuff like table-side juke boxes that played the music of Frankie Lane, Joni James Patti Page, Jo Stafford and Frank Sinatra. The songs that continually spring from my memory of years gone by are the likes of Mule Train, Jezebel, Come Fly With Me, See the Pyramids, Music, Music, Music, Purple Shades and a thousand more.

Those were the days, my friends, we thought they’d never end, but they did–just like the pant leg clips we wore when we road our one-speed bicycles. Gone forever are the glass milk bottles delivered to our doorsteps and the ice boxes that actually contained blocks of ice. Gone, all gone, are the telephone party lines, Howdy Doody, 45 rpm’s, S&H Green Stamps, Hi-Fi’s, Studebakers and Packards, roller skate keys and pizza when we called it pizza pie.

I could go on and on…and I usually do, but suffice it to say: “Those were the good old days.” How much fun it is to pause now and again to think back on all the things that we remember of our own particular and special Camelot.

Milt Huntington is the author of “A Lifetime of Laughter” and “Things That Make You Grin.”