TECH TALK: Human or A.I.? The Thin Blurred Line

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ERIC’S TECH TALK

by Eric Austin
Computer Technical Advisor

The land line rang at 5:29 p.m. Suspicious. I picked up the hand-set. “Hello?”

“Hello! Do you have a few minutes to talk this evening?”

It was a vivacious young lady. But something was off. I couldn’t put my finger on it. “What is this about?” I asked rudely. Vivacious or not, I was a repeat victim of dinner-time telemarketers.

“We’ve just started a new fund-raising campaign for breast cancer research and, um —”

It was the ‘um’ that did it. It didn’t sound natural. It sounded like someone had written ‘um’ into their script in order to trick me into thinking I was speaking to a real person.

“Are you a recording?” I said abruptly, in the middle of her spiel.

The lady’s voice broke off in mid-word. “Yes.” The answer came back immediately.

I hung up the phone with a little chill that traveled up my spine and prickled the hairs on the back of my neck. There is something slightly disturbing about thinking you are speaking to a living, breathing human being only to find out it was a computer instead.

And it got me thinking. Is there any law on the books requiring an Artificial Intelligence to tell you it is an artificial intelligence? After a bit of research, I found an article Time magazine published in 2013 detailing their encounter with a “robot telemarketer” named Samantha West that had refused to admit she wasn’t real.

That was in 2013. There have been major advances since then. Apple just had its World Wide Developers Conference where they announced a new voice technology for their computer assistant Siri. It leverages new advances in machine learning to create a computer-generated voice that is indistinguishable from the real thing. This isn’t a computer awkwardly parsing together pre-recorded words of a real human being. This is a voice generated on the fly by a computer that sounds as natural as yours or mine.

In fact, several companies, including Google, are using machine learning and advanced algorithmic programming to develop technologies that allow them to simulate real voices using as little as 60 seconds of data. In other words, feed in 60 seconds of dialog from George Clooney’s latest movie, and you’ll be able to make ole Georgie say anything else you like.

This means that soon you won’t be buying an audiobook read by the actress Meryl Streep. Instead Ms. Streep will simply license her voice and you’ll be listening to a simulation of Meryl Streep reading the book. And you won’t have famous actors doing voice-overs for the latest animated Pixar flick, rather you’ll be watching a movie with characters voiced by a computer simulating famous actors.

But don’t worry, you probably won’t even know the difference! That’s how good the technology has become. The upside is that actors will be able to lend their voices long after they are dead and buried. The downside is not knowing if that is creepy or cool?

But combine this new voice synthesis technology with recent developments in artificial intelligence and you start to have a combination that sounds ripe for abuse.

Think telemarketers are bad now? What happens when companies no longer need to hire real humans to make the calls?

In fact, it’s likely that you have already had a conversation with an artificial intelligence and not even known it. If you’ve ever gone online to “chat” with technical support, there is a good chance you were speaking with a chatbot and not a real person.

Chatbots are artificial intelligence-driven conversation generators that simulate real human interaction. There are online chatbots designed to be your girlfriend (Julie), your psychiatrist (ELIZA), your doctor (Dr. A.I.), technical support assistants and many other things. Since 1991, there is even an annual award, the Loebner Prize, given out to the best chatbot.

Siri and Google Assistant are both based on research into chatbots. The technology to create an artificial intelligence that can carry on human-like conversations has long been in development, but it’s only recently started to be used in mainstream electronics like Amazon’s Echo or Apple’s just announced Homepod.

Personally, the idea of speaking to a computer doesn’t bother me. But a computer that uses “um” in an effort to make me think it’s human? That’s disconcerting.

Eric W. Austin is a real, live human being. Or is he? To find out, email him at ericwaustin@gmail.com or leave a comment on this article at townline.org.

Click here for a HUGE list of chatbots!

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Fear strikes out

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Roland D. HalleeSCORES & OUTDOORS

by Roland D. Hallee

Back around 1954, when I was seven years old, I became aware of a game called baseball. I loved it. I grew up in an era where I watched some of the greatest baseball players in history: Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Hank Aaron, Ted Williams, Sandy Koufax, Willie Mays, etc. The list goes on.

I watched on television when Roger Maris hit his 61st home run of the season in 1961, at Yankee Stadium against Red Sox pitcher Tracy Stallard, breaking Babe Ruth’s legendary record; I was at Fenway Park when Detroit’s Jim Bunning pitched a no-hitter against the Red Sox; I was also at Fenway Park when Ted Williams hit his 521st, and last home run in his final at-bat before retirement in 1962. I’ve seen many games, watched many players who are now enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame.

But, my two main idols in those formative years were Red Sox third baseman Frank Malzone, whom I think I gravitated to because that was the position I played in Little League, high school, and during my softball playing days. But my favorite in the 1950s and early 1960s, was Red Sox centerfielder Jim Piersall.

Jim Piersall

What brings this up is that Piersall passed away on June 3, at the age of 87. But the story doesn’t end there.

Back in the early 1990s, a friend of mine was in the business of promoting sports memorabilia shows in Augusta. My job was to drive to Portland and rendezvous with professional athletes with whom he had contracted to come to the shows for autograph sessions. Among the many I drove from Portland to Augusta and back were former Red Sox stars Jody Reed, George Scott, Jim Rice, Jim Lonborg, Bill “The Spaceman” Lee, etc.; New England Patriots linebacker Steve Nelson; Celtics star Robert Parrish and Bruins players Cam Neely, Bobby Carpenter, Ken Hodge, just to name a few.

Well, one day, my buddy says to me, “I’m putting on a show next week, and I need you to go to Portland and pick up George Foster and Jim Piersall.”

I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. A week later, I was driving a car to Augusta with Jim Piersall sitting in the back seat. I was hoping he would sit next to me up front, but Foster claimed that spot. My conversation with Foster is a story for another day. But Piersall did not disappoint me in his storytelling.

Unfortunately, Piersall suffered from bipolar disorder during his playing days, in a time when the disease was not fully understood (early in his career he was diagnosed with “nervous exhaustion” and spent seven weeks in a mental facility in Massachusetts), and everyone said he was crazy. The film Fear Strikes Out, starring Anthony Perkins as Piersall, was the story of Piersall’s 17-year major league career and the mental challenges he faced.

But that day, in the car, on our round trip from the airport to the Augusta Civic Center, he displayed no signs of the disorder. Most of his topics were up and coming players at the time and some banter with Foster, who was a feared slugger who played in the National League for the Cincinnati Reds’ “Big Red Machine” in the 1970s. He once held the National League record for most home runs in a season with 52.

Piersall’s stories are legendary. He once stepped up to bat wearing a Beatles wig and playing “air guitar” with his bat; led cheers for himself in the outfield during breaks, and “talked” to Babe Ruth behind the centerfield monuments at Yankee Stadium. In 1963, while playing with the New York Mets, he hit the 100th home run of his career and ran around the bases backwards.

He was ejected from the game a countless number of times for the shenanigans he performed on the field.

In his autobiography, Piersall commented, “Probably the best thing that ever happened to me was going nuts. Whoever heard of Jim Piersall, until that happened?”

The list of his antics are endless, but one memorable one was when he was ejected from a game, while playing for the Cleveland Indians, for running back and forth in the outfield, waiving his arms frantically, trying to distract Ted Williams during an at bat.

He heckled umpires, threw baseballs at scoreboards, and charged the mound when hit by a pitch.

He was a colorful character that is missing from the game today. When Jim Piersall stepped on a baseball field, you never knew what was going to happen.

But with all these incidents, playing for five different teams, Piersall was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame on September 17, 2010.

To this day, I really can’t explain why I idolized that baseball player.

SOLON & BEYOND, Week of June 8, 2017

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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!

In the many years that I have been writing, one of the things that gives me the most enjoyment is doing stories about people. One day last week I spent an hour questioning and listening to a very interesting and unusually talented person.

One of the clocks carved by 84-year-old Solon resident Bob Therrien. Photo by Marilyn Rogers-Bull

His name is Bob Therrien and he lives on north Maine Street, in Solon, where he makes cuckoo clocks and beautiful wood carvings. The clocks have been on display in Griswald’s Store and three of them have been sold within a very short time, the ones that sold were 36-inches x 21-inches, but he makes smaller ones also. Each one is chip carved around birds, deer, moose, people etc. that are painted.

He took up this hobby when he retired and is self taught, and said he “Loves doing it,” that was very evident. When I said it must be very difficult to do all the chipping, he demonstrated how he does it and made it look easy.

He is a very generous person also and doesn’t charge as much as he could for the hours he must put in for all the carving that goes into the finished product. His garage is his workshop, along with a wonderful, cheery one in his house. He has been selling his wooden carvings and clocks from his home for several years. He doesn’t have regular hours, but when the garage doors are open he is there.

He told me several very interesting stories about giving things to people, and one of them really impressed me . He said he had carved several eagles and had them on display in his shop for $50 each. One day a lady came in and he could tell she really wanted one but perhaps couldn’t afford that much money, so when she asked the price, he told her a quater. He insisted she walk away with the eagle for 25 cents, there were other stories of his generosity, also inspiring.

He is 84 years old but hasn’t slowed down much, which is wonderful with the talent that he has. He said, “I have met many excellent people, and I do things for them.” He has a great philosophy about many things, and I agreed with him on many. He had two friends stop by while I was there, it was a wonderfully worth while visit.

It brought back many happy memories of when I had my GRAM’s Shop for 22 years and of moving the building three times, and of the wonderful friends I met during that time.

The mystery has been solved! I am so happy, (just received a call of confession) now I can thank the wonderful giver of that beautiful surprise carnation. My heartfelt thanks go out to the Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club!

The Embden Historical Society meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 12, at 7 p.m., at the Embden Town House. Art Ray, of Sidney, will be giving a PowerPoint presentation on the Early History of Central Maine Power and Wyman Dam. A business meeting will follow along with refreshments. All are welcome.

The date for the North Anson Congregational Church yard and bake sale is Saturday, June 17, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Percy’s memoir this week is about getting older – he lived to be 17 which is pretty old in cat age: “Getting older is not for sissies to help you face the inevitable changes with a spirit of fun and fearlessness, here are a few words. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctor worry about them, that’s what you pay him for.

Keep only cheery friends. The grouches pull you down.

Keep learning. Learn more about crafts, the computer, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain stay idle. “An idle brain is the devil’s workshop.”

Enjoy simple things. Visit a friend or read a good book, just for fun.

Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

The tears happen, endure, grieve and move on. The only person who is with us our entire life is ourselves.

Surround yourself with what you love, whether it’s family, pets. keepsakes, music, plants and hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

Cherish your health. If it’s good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it, If it is beyond what you can do to improve it, get help.

Don’t take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, to the next county, to a foreign country, but not to where the guilt is.

So put a spring in your step and a lilt in your voice and grow old gracefully without losing your youth. Remember, life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the number of moments that take our breath away. (words by George Carlin) These wise words were given to me by a good friend to pass on for Percy.)

I’m Just Curious: History of a few clichés

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by Debbie Walker

You know I have purchased some rather unique books. Tonight I dug out The Dictionary of Clichés because I wanted to look up an old saying.

A couple of times recently I have caught myself saying “Between you and me and the fence post …” I looked it up and found it! It does read “between you and me and the bedpost/gatepost/four walls/lamppost.” It is the long version of “in strictest confidence”. It’s usually followed up with gossip!

“Add insult to injury” means to make harm worse by adding humiliation. The saying is traced all the way back to a Greek fable.

“Ass in a sling” – to be in deep trouble. The saying was common about 1930. The ass referred to is not the animal but the term for buttocks.

“In one fell swoop” – A single operation. Goes all the way back to Shakespeare. Vultures attacked chickens in “one fell swoop.”

“At one’s beck and call” – Required to tend to someone’s wishes. The word “beck” only lives on in this cliché. It meant a mute signal or gesture of command (nod of the head or pointing your finger).

“At the drop of a hat” – at once without delay. It comes from the dropping or waving a hat as a starting signal for a race, prize fight or other event.

“Bad penny always turns up” – unwanted or worthless object or person is sure to return. It’s written in several languages. It’s dated back to when pennies were maybe made of inferior metal.

“Baker’s Dozen”– Thirteen. There was a law passed in England in 1266. It specified exactly how much a loaf of bread should weigh and put a penalty for shorted weight. Bakers protected themselves by giving their customers 13 loaves.

“Bane of one’s existence”- One’s ruin or misery. The earliest meaning of the noun bane was “murderer.” Sometime later the meaning was “poison.” Now, dating back to 1500s, it means an agent of ruin.

“Barefaced liar”- a shamelessly bold untruth. It means bold-faced or brazen but it is believed in the 16th century it meant “beardless.”

I wanted to leave a little room here to add a little info about nail polish:

Don’t shake it to mix, roll the bottle between your palms. Shaking puts in air bubbles that can muck up your job.

There is a way to dry the nails quicker. Spray aerosol cooking spray to coat nails from about six inches. Wait a few minutes and rinse. Sally Hanson also has top coat called Insta-Dri. It is wonderful, I love it!

Dab nail polish on screws in eyeglasses to keep them secure.

OK I used up my words for the night. Hope all is well with you. I’m just curious what we’ll learn next! Contact me with comments or ideas at dwdaffy@yahoo.com sub: Next.

Composer: Giacomo Puccini; Singer: Burl Ives; Composer: Johann S. Bach; Organist: Robert Elmore

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Peter CatesREVIEW POTPOURRI

by  Peter Cates
Giacomo Puccini

Giacomo Puccini

Puccini

Madame Butterfly Selections
Arthur Pryor’s Band; Victor – 31697, 12-inch one-sided black label acoustic shellac 78, recorded approximately between 1905 and 1913.

Several shellacs from the pre-1924 acoustic era feature symphonic bands doing very nice performances of operatic excerpts. Arthur Pryor’s Band left one devoted to the matchless melodies from the opera, Madame Butterfly, of Giacomo Puccini (1857-1924) and is recommended heartily to collectors of early acoustic band disks.

Burl Ives

Burl Ives

Burl Ives

Songs of the West
Decca – DL 4179, mono LP, recorded 1961.

Burl Ives applies his Down Comforter of a voice to a dozen western classics – Home on the Range, Mexicali Rose, Cool Water, Jingle, Jangle, Jingle, Empty Saddles, etc.- and has the arrangements of Decca’s late, great Nashville A t R man, Owen Bradley, and the Anita Kerr Singers, both uncredited on this album.

My absolute favorite, one I have played many times with pleasure, is The Cowboy’s Dream, with its gospel message and the exquisite, separately recorded, different harmonies of Anita and her colleagues added gradually in each of the choruses. Recommended!

Bach on the Biggest

Robert Elmore, organist; Mercury SR90127, stereo LP, recorded 1956.

Johann Bach

Johann Bach

Organist Robert Elmore (1913-1985) was recorded on November 23, 1956, playing the Auditorium Organ of the Atlantic City Convention Hall. To call this instrument a behemoth of Great White

Robert Elmore

Robert Elmore

Whale proportions would most likely be an understatement. Its volume alone is equal to that of 25 brass bands; 225,000 feet of lumber was used in its construction, including 10,000 just for the 12 pipes; and the hall itself is more than 13 stories and occupies four city blocks.

Elmore’s playing of Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor, Toccata, Adagio and Fugue in C Major and Sleeper’s Awake and In Dulci Jubilo Chorale Preludes is both magnificent and magnificently recorded. A record worth seeking out!

Tracking: more than just following your dog

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TRAINING YOUR PERFORMANCE DOG

by Carolyn Fuhrer

Tracking involves teaching your dog how a certain job (following the track) needs to be done. It requires the handler to have the sensitivity, knowledge and skills necessary to help the dog achieve this goal. It is not just following wherever your dog goes. If you let your dog wander around and intermittently follow the track, you are not defining the job that the dog has to do. This will not enable the dog to clearly understand the job and ultimately lead to confusion, stress and failure.

So how do you avoid this in training? First of all, do not run blind tracks until you feel you can “read” your dog and have confidence as to whether or not your dog is tracking. Be particular about who you choose to help you; just because someone has a tracking title – even an advanced title – does not mean they have the ability to help you and your dog to succeed.

Training sessions need to build upon success, expose problem areas and ultimately create training scenarios to solve those problems. Just going out and laying a long track with lots of “problems” and letting the dog wander all around until they seem to “solve” them, is not training with any purpose and will not help the dog learn.

Tracking involves solving problems step by step and recognizing when a problem is starting to occur and being able to recover to where you know tracking was correct, and then being able to refocus your dog.

Recovery occurs in gradual stages. It is more than just backing up. In recovery, the handler actually becomes the leader and backs up slowly as the dog works back towards them. You cannot turn around or pull your dog towards you. You must have a style of handling that allows you to recover ground as your dog moves towards you while searching. It is more than just going in reverse a certain number of steps.

A good handler is constantly in tune with the dog while recovering and observing carefully for track indication which could occur at any moment. At that point, the dog becomes the leader of the team again.

Following behavior that is not tracking will take you further and further off the actual track, confuse your dog, and will cause you to fail in a test. You must be able to determine when your dog is looking or searching for scent and actually tracking the scent. Searching can develop into tracking and tracking can move into searching; being able to determine when this is happening is where the expertise of teaching truly becomes evident. Well planned tracks will teach both dog and handler.

Don’t wander – have a purpose.

Happy tracking.

Carolyn Fuhrer has earned over 90 AKC titles with her Golden Retrievers, including 2 Champion Tracker titles. Carolyn is the owner of North Star Dog Training School in Somerville, Maine. She has been teaching people to understand their dogs for over 25 years. You can contact her with questions, suggestions and ideas for her column by e-mailing carolyn@dogsatnorthstar.com.

SCORES & OUTDOORS: Fox sightings raise concerns

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Roland D. HalleeSCORES & OUTDOORS

by Roland D. Hallee

One of my neighbors at camp reported recently seeing a red fox trotting down the side of the Cross Hill Road, in Vassalboro, with a chicken in its jaws. That prompted many questions about the animal and its place among humans. There have been increased sightings of red foxes during the last few weeks and the diminutive canine is worth discussing.

You’ve probably read stories about the cunning fox trying to outwit his animal brothers and sisters. Foxes no doubt got their crafty reputation from the way they look, with their long, thin faces and yellow eyes that have narrow slits for pupils. But in real life, foxes are more concerned with finding food than with playing tricks on anyone.

red fox

red fox

The red fox, Vulpes vulpes, is a lean, mean hunting machine that’s built for speed. About 3-1/2 feet in length, slinky and long-legged, they only weigh about 10 pounds full grown. But red foxes look a lot bigger because of their thick fur, which can range from deep brownish red to sandy blonde with black legs, feet, and backs of the ears and white underparts. Sometimes red foxes can even be all black or black with white tips, or have a dark brown “cross” across their backs.

Foxes are great hunters, and not only because they’re fast. Their large, upright ears allow them to locate a rustling sound within one degree of its true location, a trait that is not possible in humans. A fox can also hear a mouse squeal from 150 feet away.

Red foxes are solitary hunters that slowly approach their prey, creeping low to the ground and stretching their head high to spot the target. They pounce on the mouse, rabbit or other prey with their forefeet.

Mice, especially meadow voles, are a popular food for red foxes, but their favorite dish is rabbit. They aren’t picky eaters either, and will eat berries and insects in the spring and summer, along with squirrels, songbirds, ducks and pheasants. In the north, they will also eat snowshoe rabbits, and they’ll even clean up after humans by eating garbage. So, if foxes have been spotted in your area, it’s a good idea to secure garbage so as not to encourage it to continue to show up at your location.

Nighttime is when red foxes are most active. They do most of their hunting from two hours before sunset to about four hours after sunrise, and travel up to nine miles a night. When they aren’t hunting, foxes like to rest in forests, ravines or woodlots, curling their long bushy tails around themselves to keep warm. The tail is also used for balance or as a signal flag to communicate with other foxes.

Fox families each have their own clearly marked home ranges that they defend from intruders, but they don’t usually fight. Foxes are territorial animals. A group chase or a “threat display” – charging, growling, etc. – will generally do the trick. A fox family has a hunting range of about 150-400 acres, but in less diverse habitats, like farmland, one family might need up to 2-3 square miles.

Red fox don’t live in dens most of the year, but do set up nurseries in abandoned woodchuck burrows when it’s time to have pups. Foxes breed in mid-January and have five or six pups in mid-March. They will hunt with their parents when they’re three months old and are ready to strike out on their own at eight months.

Red foxes can be found along fence rows, gravel roads, paths or treelines, especially after a light snowfall. Their tracks are very similar to that of a small dog. On spring or summer evenings, search along hillsides with binoculars. If you see a mound of fresh dirt in front of a dark hole, it could be a den entrance.

The question most asked was whether they are a threat to humans.

Many humans think foxes are dangerous animals. The most concerns raised are do they pose a threat to pets, small children, and also look sick or rabid. Humans are intimidated by foxes. They will become aggressive if cornered, so never try to catch one with your bare hands. Generally, foxes are not especially dangerous to humans or pets. Attacks on humans are extremely rare. And that is only when the fox may be defending its den.

They do not regard humans or dogs and cats as prey. They will, however, take poultry and rabbits. If an attack is initiated towards dogs or cats, they usually end when the barking starts, and the cat extends its claws. Remember, foxes are not fighters. As a rule, once they have been discovered in an area, they might pack up and move.

Foxes, however, can be carriers of diseases, including rabies. They can spread other diseases through their feces, so it’s important to clean it up if you discover one. Although it will not affect humans, the diseases that foxes carry can affect your pets, especially dogs. If mange is suspected, see your veterinarian immediately. That can be treated.

Treat red foxes with respect, keep your distance, and they could be a source of entertainment for you for quite some time.

I’m Just Curious: Finger nail polish uses

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by Debbie Walker

A monster has been created! I have some great books about “Amazing Uses” and I was not going to go with that info for another week. I was going to give you a break but… then I came across uses for Nail Polish.

First I have to tell you I have been introduced to “glow in the dark” nail polish. I have had nail polish that changed color in the sun and that was fun for a while, however it was a little limited in its uses.
One of the first things I came across in my “Extraordinary Uses for Ordinary Things” (Published by Reader’s Digest). “Nail Polish Around the House.” In this chapter I was introduced to a new (to me) concept.

I did not know there was such a thing and I have always loved nail polish. How did I miss it! Oh yeah I’m excited now! I got on the computer to start my search. I do like Amazon (it’s where I get most of my books) and it didn’t let me down. I found it! As yet I have not received it but when I do I will let you know if it was worth the hunt!

Now let me tell you some of the uses for it:

Paint your remote volume button or any button you hit wrong in the dark.
Polish a mark on your keys and keyholes to find in the dark.
Polish a difficult to find in the dark light switch.

You can mark other things with regular polish:

I am going to mark my shower dial instead of using the trial and error for water temp.
Decorate and/or seal an envelope with nail polish. It doesn’t even melt with steam from boiling water!!
Turn rocks into pretty paper weights. My brother would have loved this!
You can tarnish proof costume jewelry with clear nail polish. I’ve been doing this for years because I love my junk jewelry!
Dip ends of shoe laces in polish to prevent fraying. Let dry overnight.
Oh yeah, fix the run in panty hose to keep it from traveling.
Get rid of warts. Cover with polish. Keep doing it until there is no more wart. I have seen this one work.
Polish thread on buttons to prevent fraying.
Mend holes in window screens.

All of these odd uses I have printed for three weeks don’t even put a dent in the other Amazing Uses. Are you tired of this info? Let me know please. It will help me to keep you reading!

I would like to be better late than never with my feelings of honoring veterans that have passed. They gave us the freedoms we have today. I also try to honor all veterans. If I can tell someone is a veteran I like to shake their hands and thank them for their service. I am always amazed when they say they would do it all again. I do feel bad that it is not easy to know who the female veterans are but I want you to know I honor you.

I’m just curious what subject I will find interesting next. Do you have any thoughts on what you might be interested in reading? Contact me at dwdaffy@yahoo.com sub: Help.

REVIEW POTPOURRI: Dick Kuhn and his Orchestra; Death of a Salesman; Handel

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Peter CatesREVIEW POTPOURRI

by  Peter Cates

Dick Kuhn and his Orchestra

Wild Flower; Bambalina- Decca -3723, ten inch blue label 78 disc, recorded March 25, 1941.

Dick Kuhn

Dick Kuhn

There is very little information to be gleaned anywhere on bandleader Dick Kuhn, he starting his own band while in high school being about the only morsel uncovered.

It would perform in the tradition of such dance bands as those of Guy Lombardo, Sammy Kaye, Griff Williams and Lawrence Welk, but with more animation, intelligence and nuance. Kuhn was also quite gifted as a saxist.

The orchestra could be seen during the late ‘30 New York City’s Times Square and heard regularly on the very popular radio station, WOR; it recorded a batch of 78s for Decca, Mercury and a couple of lesser known labels in its ‘30s and ‘40s heyday.

The Decca blue label 78 series was spearheaded by company manager Jack Kapp around 1936 or ’37 as a catalog of 35 cent records, as opposed to the dollar records of the major competitors, Victor and Columbia; it soared in sales when the dads all across the country would send their kids to the record shop every week with a dollar for the latest three releases (Within at least two years, Victor would respond by launching its own 35 center, Bluebird, and Columbia, Okeh).

A quartet of popular song lyricists/composers are credited with the above two selections, Wild Flower and Bambalina — Otto Harbach (1873-1963), Herbert Stothart (1885-1949), Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960), and Vincent Youmans (1898-1946) . As to why so many talents were assembled for these two songs, anyone’s guess is as good as mine, but this record is quite pleasant to listen to, with an added vocal trio.

When Herbert Stothart visited Scotland in 1947, he suffered a heart attack and later wrote a symphonic piece for orchestra- Heart Attack: A Symphonic Poem, about his tribulations. He started another piece, Voice of Liberation, when he died of cancer at the age of 63, in 1949.

Death of a Salesman

by Arthur Miller; written in 1949. Arthur Miller (1916-2005) wrote such classics of the theater as The Crucible,which dealt with the evil of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials; and All My Sons, which confronted the profiteering of the munitions industry.

Arthur Miller

Arthur Miller

The main character, Willy Loman, threw himself into being a salesman who was liked; the problem was that this goal was the only one that truly mattered. Then, when his company started squeezing him out gradually because his sales had gone down, he fell to pieces.

Reading this play, one not only feels the injustice, the anger, the terrors at the heart of our lives that bring us down when bad things happen, but also the flaws in our character, that contribute to it. Finally,

Miller leads us to care for Willy as a fellow human being and to feel his suffering as though he were a long time friend! And it holds up so well with re-reading!

Handel – Semele

Anthony Lewis conducting the English Chamber Orchestra and Saint Anthony Singers with various soloists; L’Oiseau-Lyre OLS- 111-3, three 12-inch stereo vinyl LPs, recorded 1955.

George Handel

George Handel

George Frederick Handel wrote one big beautiful opera here with arias, more choruses than normal in an opera and bracing orchestration; it was premiered in 1744 during Lent and was received with very mixed feelings. After several performances during the remaining 15 years of the composer’s lifetime, it would not be heard again until an English revival in 1925; since then, it has slowly made its way to a significant repertory status.

Its story line features an illicit attraction between the betrothed Semele and the god Jupiter, with tragic consequences.

The above set was its first recording and, to my mind, is very good. I would especially cite two women who gave master lessons in expression, articulation, and breathing – soprano Jennifer Vyvyan (1925-1974) and alto Helen Watts (1927-2009).

Only the LP set is available through Amazon vendors, no CD transfer having ever been made.

SOLON & BEYOND, Week of June 1, 2017

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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!

The Solon Pine Tree 4-H Club met on May 13, with vice president Cooper Dellarma presiding. Hailey and Cooper Dellarma helped at the “Luck of the Draw” that was held on May 6. The “Luck of the Draw” benefits 4-H activities in Somerset County.

The members voted to do flowers on Mothers Day at the Solon Congregational Church. Two leaders, two members and two visited church to pass out the flowers.

The members and leaders are planning to have a cleaning day with flower beds at the church.

Kathleen Randall was the guest speaker. She helped the members make baskets for their Mothers on Mothers Day.

The next meeting will be on Saturday, June 10, at 9:30 a.m., at the Solon Fire Department. The members will be making another craft item. Hunter Soucer and Desmond Robinson will be furnishing refreshments.

Rance and Eleanor Pooler spent three days in Augusta attending the Eastern Star Grand Chapter. Rance received a plaque for being a Grand Escort.

The special Solon town meeting was held on May 22 and since I had sent my news before to meet my deadline this account is a bit late.

There were three other articles added on to what I had written about earlier, for a total of seven articles. Phil Curtis was elected moderator and there were around 40 people in attendance. Art. 5 was to see if the town will set up a Grounds Maintenance Reserve Account to be used for summer maintenance of the grounds at the town office/fire station, Coolidge Library and the sports field at the Solon Elementary School.

Art. 6: To see if the town will raise and appropriate by taxation funds for the Ground Maintenance Reserve Account; $2,500 was voted for this. Art.7 was about property that the taxes haven’t been paid on for several years.

All articles passed in half an hour with very few comments made.

The North Anson Congrega­tional Church will be having the last Children’s Sunday School class on June 4. There will be a recognition during the worship service of all the Christian education programs of the church and a party for the children. After the worship service the choir members will be going to Maplecrest to sing to the residents and then off for a year end celebration of their own.

On May 22, Lief and I, along with several hundred people attended the Kennebec Valley Community College 47th Commencement Class of 2017 at the Augusta Civic Center. It was a very impressive graduation with at least 28 different programs listed.

Those from Solon who were graduating were Paul Allen Dawe II, Caledonia Cornell and Joyce Alexandra Mottram-Flanagan. Another graduate, formerly from Solon, was Allen Lionel Bernier, of Waterville.

We were there that day, along with many of his family, because of our love and support for a very special guy, Alexander Walz who was one of the 300 who graduated that day.

Now, I love a mystery, but I have been waiting in hopes that someone would confess to the surprise I received on Mothers Day when we returned from church. There haven’t been any confessions so I’m writing about it in hopes this will jog their memory, I truly loved the gesture, it was a beautiful carnation. Come on now, relieve my mind and admit to the wonderful gift! Thank you!

And so for Percy’s memoir which he would feel was fitting for this column: May your path be strewn with flowers, Memories, friends and happy hours. May blessings come from heaven above, To fill your life with peace and love. (These words were from An English Blessing, hope they bring you all peace and love.)