Back to index of "this and that in my life" pages by Donald Sauter.
Dedicated to the proposition that every thought that's ever been thunk may be of interest to some oddball . . .
There were tremendous problems with my email service during this time, resulting in much lost mail. No doubt all the good stuff.
THEE: Subject: Sorrells Pickard
Dear Donald, Do you have an email address for Sorrells Pickard? I
am an old friend of his now living in Minneapolis.
ME: I don't think Sorrells had email when I was in contact, but
assuming his gourmet peanut butter company is still in business,
I would recommend contacting Hself at the company. He was
very helpful when I asked if I could call Sorrells.
Hope that helps.
THEE: Subject: This is stupid
Get rid of infield fly. This page is dumb.
THEE: Subject: Your Data Transfer Status
Dear GeoCities Member,
Congratulations, http://www.geocities.com/donaldsauter seems to
be very popular and has been receiving a large amount of traffic.
Our records indicate that you're using more than the allotted
amount of data transfer we provide for a free web site, which is
3 gigabytes per month (measured on an hourly basis). That means
that during the past few days we had to temporarily turn your
site off to keep the bandwidth within this limit.
THEE: I would like the top part of the Guitar orchestra piece.
Let me know how I can get it.
THEE: Subject: saw your website
Donald, your website distracted me from my work much of the day
today. Thanks. I was looking for the spelling of letters
because there was almost a hostile falling out during a recent
scrabble game due to contention on that issue. In that search I
found your page, and really enjoyed reading. Nice work.
However, my reason for writing is not to compliment you, but to
ask you if you are involved in or know of any DC scrabble circles
that welcome average joe types (who never memorized any two
letter word lists, but always meant to because they wanted to
beat their other average joe friends). I saw one reference to an
Invitation to DC Folks page, but couldn't find the page. Let me
know if you do. I like words.
ME: Did I ever respond to your email from last December about
whether there's a friendly Scrabble club in the DC area? If not,
sorry about that. I've had lots of email trouble for a long
time, and I've been trying to catch up lately. I've tried my
darndest to get such a Scrabble club going, but without luck. If
you've got any ideas, for instance, if you're a good organizer or
know someone who is, how about giving a call?
THEE: Subject: WGS Guitar orchestra
I am a new member of WGS and I am very interested in receiving a
part for the Feb. 8th concert.
THEE: Re: (email's back)
We're headed to the great metropolis of Hominy, OK, about 1-1/2
hours from here. What's the attraction in Hominy? A local
Cherokee artist, father of a friend of our older daughter, has
been painting murals on the sides of the buildings for the past
8-10 years. Last trip I made there was six years ago, and I was
mightily impressed. With plans to complete several additional
murals per year, he should have made plenty of progress since
then. Then in addition to the murals, there's the Silver Dollar
Depot, the old town train station turned restaurant.
---------- Original Message -----------------------------------
>Here's an e-copy of the thing I mailed, which I trust got to
you by now. Only thing that jumps to mind since writing the
email below is that I read and enjoyed tremendously James
Thurber's "The Thirteen Clocks".
>Hi, Hself!
>(When I went to send this off, I found that my email situation
was completely messed up again. No telling when you'll get
it...)
>I went down LC yesterday (Monday, Dec 10) for the first time
since summer, and had some good successes. One reason I chose
yesterday was because there was a noon-time lecture by Todd
Harvey, who just published a book about the origins of 70 of Bob
Dylan's earliest songs. It was a great talk. I mean, I'm a
long-time Dylan fan, but everybody there seemed to dig it, too.
One of his examples was Dylan's "Restless Farewell", which Dylan
took from the Clancy Brothers' "Parting Glass." I had stumbled
on that one myself a few years ago, leading me to believe I was
some sort of master musicologist!
>I also checked out and photocopied a few missing pages from one
of my recent bag-day treasures - "A Treasury of Grand Opera" by
Henry W. Simon (1946). It took 2 slips since the first one
brought up was the 1965 second edition. That was my mistake, but it
was interesting to note the differences. The later edition has
an extra 100 pages devoted to 2 operas left out of the first
edition - strictly for reasons of conserving paper for the war
effort.
>I also dug through a few more boxes of mandolin & piano music,
uncovering a few items involving guitar here and there.
>I also fired up some microfilm in the newspaper and periodical
room, but just as I was getting up nerve to punch the print
button (25 cents was at stake), an alarm (fire alarm? bomb
threat?) sent us all outside. No matter - we were eventually
allowed back in; I hit the button; and out came a copy of notices
about Emory & Co.'s lottery, Mary Ann Parry's death at 46, and
Christopher and Ann's wedding.
>Oh yeah, I also called up 24 Witmark Collections of Male, Female
and Mixed Quartettes, containing about 40 arrangements by WC.
These include WFACG, WTRSF, TH, MD, TR, TSMMUTS, ALATWRO, and the
ever-popular THH, among others. I didn't do any copying. I don't
think I'm up-to-date on your vocal ensemble collection. Let me
know how to proceed. Your suspicion that 10 volumes of Male
Qtets preceded No. 11 was spot on. There were also Nos. 12 to 16
following it (where all the goodies are, except none in No. 16.)
Not surprisingly, No. 11 itself was missing. (I'm guessing it's
in Quanah, OK, right now?)
>Sadly, a few other titles did not jump out of the title card
catalog: "Mountains and Forrests" (is that the right number of
r's?), "Hymn(s) Of/For The Sabbath" and "Songs Of America".
Sounds like job for a motivated LC librarian (not a common
breed.) I didn't get a chance to get up to the copyright office.
>I've been on the go lately, culture-wise. The new performing
arts center at the U. of Maryland is really something. When they
were constructing it, I was thinking, what's the big deal? A
building's a building. The old concert and recital halls were
fine with me. But their idea was far bigger than just a
building; they were shooting for one of the leading performing
arts programs on the east coast, and they might have succeeded.
Last Sunday I saw a really nice chamber ensemble program of Peter
And The Wolf, and Leopold Mozart's Toy Symphony (with the
daughter of a friend of mine who's in 2nd grade, plus the friend,
herself.) On Tuesday was an honors chamber recital. On
Wednesday was Le Nozze di Figaro. The opera theater has a
turntable floor. My seat was in the center of the 3rd row.
All in Italian, no surtitles, but I was in heaven! Saturday
evening was a "reading" of a new opera called "Pope Joan" -
"reading" in quotes because the performance was almost fully
acted. However, the only stage props were white hankies draped
from the music stands signifiying the scenes in heaven. Sunday
afternoon was the world-renowned Salzburg Marionettes doing the
Nutcracker. The schedule of events had said this was supposed to
be highlights of Die Fledermaus *and* the Nutcracker. I was
really disappointed when I saw in the program that it was the
Nutcracker only. I had pulled out all my Fledermaus records and
write-ups to prepare myself, of course. Before the show began, I
went to the box office to let them know I was disappointed. They
were completely sympathetic. The lady herself said it was "news
to me" after she confirmed the peformance was, in fact, to be the
Nutcracker only. So they gave me 2 complimentary tickets (70
bucks worth) to that evening's show - which was the *complete*
Fledermaus. Even though by that point I was starting to run down
a little, I gladly hauled myself back again. One of the tix
went to waste, but that show wasn't a complete sellout anyway.
My big disappointment was not being able to get the autograph of
Gretl Aicher, the director of the Salzburg Marionettes. At one
of my recent booksale bag days, I got a real neat, old book
(Salzburg, 1956) about the Salzburg Marionettes. Gretl is the
granddaughter of the man who created them in 1913. The book
has a picture of her (late 20s?) with her family and father, who
was the director when the book was published.
>Keep in mind that each of these shows I've mentioned may have
been scheduled at the same time as 2 or 3 other shows at the
center! I think there are 5 main halls and theaters. To give you
an idea of how eager and determined they are to make sure
everybody's happy, listen to what happened to me and my friend
Norm. A few weeks ago, we tried to make it to an open rehearsal
of the Guarnieri string quartet, which we have done often over
the years. But the traffic was horrendous because of one or two
sporting events at the university. So we finally got there 20
minutes late, only to find that the rehearsal was over. They had
rescheduled it for 2 hours earlier because of the games.
Fair enough; nuttin' to get upset about. BUT... they had
somebody there to apologize profusely, AND offer free tickets to
the Guarnieri's real concert next year. All that for people who
missed a free event! And not only that, they were happy to
accommodate those, like Norm, who wouldn't be able to make it to
the Guarnieri concert, on a Friday night. (Norm can only make it
up from Virginia on Tuesdays.) So Norm got a Tuesday ticket to
Monteverdi's L'Incoronazione di Poppea - which coincidentally, I
already had a ticket to.
>I came across a sand dance mention in O. Henry's "The Defeat of
the City": "He [Robert] turned handsprings on the grass that
prodded [brother] Tom to envious sarcasm. And then, with a
whoop, he clattered to the rear and brought back Uncle Ike, a
battered colored retainer of the family, with his banjo, and
strewed sand on the porch and danced "Chicken in the Bread Tray"
and did buck-and-wing wonders for half an hour longer."
>>>Also, I finally got myself started on writing a scathing
letter to a local paper in an effort to destroy that insane MSPAP
test I've talked about.
>The local paper couldn't print my MSPAP rant for space reasons,
which disappointed me. Anyhow, I put it up on the web at
> http://www.geocities.com/donaldsauter/mspap.htm
>It just occurred to me to ask, Sue, do you know anything about
writing? If so, here's the deal: the next 2 dollars worth of LC
photocopying is on me if you can make the same points with the
same forcefulness in one third of the space (while NOT editing
the "me" out of it.) Sound easy enough? Feel free to work in
your Bill Gates joke, if it doesn't put us over the limit. (Just
kidding, of course. Don't waste any of yer time on this.)
>Right now I am back in email heck. I thought fer sure that I
could trust my freenet again, but their disk filled up again just
like that, and I can't see my mail for the time being. (So far
they have been pretty good about not actually losing anything.)
I might try turning off mail forwarding and just access mail from
email.com, although that has driven me crazy in the past.
Continue to use the donaldsauter@email.com address.
>Please don't write up your student strangulation stories just
for my reading pleasure, but if and when you do, put me on the
mailing list.
>>especially doesn't matter that I consistently get great
evaluations from my students,
>I guess they don't even ask 2nd, 3rd and 4th graders. I bumped
into one of my former students in a store last month and he said
all of the kids have been asking, "Where's Mr. Saw... saw...
sawsta???" And he's not the sort who would just say something
like that. I've left behind little friends at 3 schools now, boo
hoo hoo.
>>and somehow manage to have sufficient reserve energy...
>I've noticed that.
>>>You wouldn't believe how annoying and horrible the line breaks
look in your emails on yahoo.
>>Yours are no picnic here, either. Sometimes I see all of one
word on a line . . . and the word is "a" at that!
>Some of your lines are nuttin' but a space - so there!
>>>About 40 of the books were kids' books for the daughter of a
friend of mine who's in 2nd grade.
>>A young friend to have a daughter. ;-) Here I thought
Oklahoma was second only to Arkansas in young mothers, but maybe
Maryland's got us whooped.
>I assure you, it is absolutely impossible that I wrote that
sentence! It was either sabotaged, or an internet data packet got
out of order on the way to grbonline.com - I swear! (You gotta
believe me!)
>>>Most enjoyable for me is one called "New Orleans Ragtime
Orchestra".
>>Don't think I know the group. There's a New Leviathan Ragtime
Orchestra that I know of from Nawl'ans, but on an LP, gosh, these
folks may be rotting away in the swamps or bayous by now . . .
or, perhaps, gator bait.
>The album dates from 1971. In fact, the NORO violin player was
only 66, the trumpeter only 60 and the drummer only 55. No
reason they couldn't still be kicking...
>>He [David Reffkin] now has a credit card...
>I've actually been trying to get one lately. Of course, I
can't, because I've never been in debt (which would seem to make
me the best credit risk, no?) I've begged, but nobody wants to
look at my last 20 years of utility bills paid on time.
>>>A couple of the non-music books were Modern Library editions:
"Great Modern Short Stories" (ca. 1940) and "The Best Short
Stories Of O. Henry". I'm getting a kick out of the O. Henry -
still chuckling over "From The Cabby's Seat".
>>Not familiar with that one but will try to look it up soon. I
can always use a good story, particularly as I prepare my
internet reading course next semester.
>Other faves: "Roads of Destiny", "A Retrieved Reformation", "The
Renaissance At Charleroi", "The Duplicity of Hargraves" (the most
guessable ending, but a wonderful story), and "A Blackjack
Bargainer" (sad).
>Real interesting about the "World's Fair" story with Annie
McCune and the possible WC connection. Your discoveries still
amaze me. Did you read the book simply because you had finished
"Ragtime" and figured you had another 20 minutes to kill?
>Great job on the Billee Taylor discovery! I've made a few neat
little Beatles-related discoveries over the years.
>>Gonna be a quiet Thanksgiving--just the three of us.
>Our Thanksgiving was another very good one. Our tradition is
for aunts, uncles, and cousins (and their kids) on my mom's side
of the family to get together at our Aunt Louise's. They've got
a sprawling basement. This year the crowd was 45, which is not
as large as they come. Then members of my - meaning my folks' -
family get together at my folks' house (where we grew up). That
was a more intimate gathering of 18. Had a splendid time both
places.
>Speaking of Thanksgiving, O. Henry's "The Thanksgiving Day
Gentleman" is another good one. Not action-packed, but thought-
provoking - all about tradition. You'll never guess the ending.
>Donald
THEE: Thanks for the marriage item from the Sun, the copy of Trip
to Rocky Point, the Washington Guitar Society newsletter.
"Floating Ancillary Ants" sounds intriguing, and I'd love copies
of these recordings, if possible someday!
THEE: Falstaff Minuetto
Just a quick note to let you know that I just got around to
intabulating the above mentioned piece from the book you sent.
In my opinion, a real little gem. Take care and keep playing.
ME: I agree! It sounds very faithful to the original, too.
THEE: Subject: Web Site Update - Thanks!
Thanks for the email and the web site update - I saved the
updated pieces of Carre tablature and will now print them off
into a booklet. I've already transcribed a few of the suites for
modern guitar, but it will be nice to have a look at the whole
breadth of Carre's work. Again, thanks for all the work you've
done making this tablature available.
THEE: The Floating Ancillary Ants
Hi, I saw your bit about the above-named piece in the latest
Guitar Society newsletter. I'd be interested in getting a copy
of it, if possible - probably all three parts, so my daughter and
I could practice it together.
THEE: floating ancillary ants
Finally read the newsletter. I just hustle and get them out and
read it later.
One of my students and his son want to play in the orchestra on
the 8th. I'll be there, too. I don't need a copy, but my
students asked. My student plays good classical and his son is 6
but reads and plays beautifully through all six strings. Can you
send a copy?
ME: Like the article said, get me an address by email or phone
and I'll send out parts. A 6-year-old would have to be *very*
advanced to play the piece. How come you don't need a copy?
THEE: Puzzle Stuff
I was enjoying your brain twister page. Reading over how old Jane
is, I think I disagree with your result and propose the
following:
The ages of Jane and Mary when added together make 44 years
(j+m=44) (1
Now Jane is twice as old as Mary was when
(j=2*m1) (2
Jane was half as old as Mary will be when
(j1=m2/2) (3
Mary is three times as old as Jane was when
(m2=3*j3) (4
Jane was three times as old as Mary.
(j3=3*m) (5
How old, then, is Jane?
solve for j
Since we have more
unknowns than equations,
we have to note that
Jane is always the same
number of years older or younger than mary;
j-m=j1-m1 (6
Now we 6 unknowns & 6 equations
Here's my solution, that does not require any guessing:
j+(j3/3)=44 from 5
j+m2/9=44 from 4
j+2/9*(j1)=44 from 3
j+2/9*(j-m+m1)=44 from 6
or j+2/9*(j-m+(j/2))=44
12/9*j-2*m=44
6*j-m=198
6*j-(44-j) = 198 from 1
7j=242
or j=34+4/7 ('thirty four & four-sevenths)
Hence,
j=34+4/7
m=9+3/7
j3=28+2/7
m2=84+6/7
j1=42+3/7
m1=17+2/7
so j=2*m1
(Great problem by the way!)
And here's your answer:
Jane is 27 1/2 years old and Mary is 16 1/2.
Mary was 5 1/2 years old, Jane was 16 1/2.
Now when Mary is three times that age she will be 49 1/2 years old.
Half of this is 24 3/4, and when Jane was that age Mary was 13 3/4.
Accordingly, Jane's age was twice this, or 27 1/2.
J=27+1/2
M=16+1/2
J+M=44 yep
J=2*M1 if M1=13+3/4 so
J1=24+3/4
M2=49+1/2 so
J3=16+1/2 but at that time,
Jane is supposed to 3 times as old as Mary, isn't she?
Do you agree or not? In any case, thanks for the entertainment.
ME: Way back in January of 'aught-two you sent me your solution
to a brain teaser on my website. I've had lots of email trouble
for a long time, and I'm finally trying to catch up. To refresh
your memory, you wrote:
... And here's your answer:
Jane is 27 1/2 years old and Mary is 16 1/2.
Mary was 5 1/2 years old, Jane was 16 1/2.
Now when Mary is three times that age she will be 49 1/2 years old.
Half of this is 24 3/4, and when Jane was that age Mary was 13 3/4.
Accordingly, Jane's age was twice this, or 27 1/2.
J=27+1/2
M=16+1/2
J+M=44 yep
J=2*M1 if M1=13+3/4 so
J1=24+3/4
M2=49+1/2 so
J3=16+1/2 but at that time,
Jane is supposed to 3 times as old as Mary, isn't she?
Do you agree or not? In any case, thanks for the entertainment.
I was very impressed with how clearly you laid the problem out.
I could follow right along, and was ready to declare the puzzle
book answer wrong and put your solution on my web page. But I
thought I had better understand why the puzzle book answer was
wrong when it had seemed to check out for me before. I was
baffled until I realized you and the puzzle book interpreted the
very end of the puzzle differently. You read it as "... when
Jane was three times as old as Mary is [right now]."
The puzzle book meant it to be understood as "... [at the point
in time] when Jane was three times as old as Mary."
Thus, you need to introduce a new variable, m3, in equation 5)
5. j3=3*m3
Now we need another equation, but we get that easily enough from
their difference in age at that moment.
7. j-m=j3-m3
Eliminating variables, as you did, back to j yields j=27+1/2, the
puzzle book answer. Whew!
It's also interesting to note that, if one interprets the puzzle
the way you did, the math works out, but some of the tenses in
the statement of the puzzle are not consistent with the answer.
The puzzle would have to be restated (changes in CAPITALS):
The ages of Jane and Mary when added together make 44 years
Now Jane is twice as old as Mary WILL BE when
Jane WILL BE half as old as Mary will be when
Mary is three times as old as Jane was when
Jane was three times as old as Mary [is right now.]
How old, then, is Jane?
Thanks a million for showing me how to lay the problem out in
simultaneous equations. You must have one crystal clear brain!
I intend to add the solution to my web page, giving you full
credit. I was also really glad to see that my own modified
version of the puzzle worked out to the answer I supplied using
your method. (Whew!) Also, I now feel confident that in both
cases the answers are unique. I wasn't really 100% sure before.
Thanks a million for all the time and effort you put into it!
ME: joan of arc
I looked up Joan of Arc in my encyclopedia again and confirmed my
suspicion that she was not a big deal in 1818. I forgot to bring
my jotted notes to school, but she was beatified in 1909 and
canonized in 1920 or so. She became a symbol of French
unification in the 1800s, what with all the upheaval they were
having.
THEE: Subject: piano-guitar
I'm from Quebec, Canada and I'm studying at music departement of
Le College de Sherbrooke and I would like to start a classical
guitar-piano duet. The problem is to find something to play. We
already had a little book but I was searching for compositers
repertory. I don't know if you would like to email me some of the
parts you said you had but don't want to put it on the site. That
would be so helpful. I hope you'll accept this demand and I thank
you right now. Thank you
p.s. maybe you can find that english is my second language.
ME: I was hoping to get people interested in guitar and piano
music and make a little business of selling the pieces I've
gotten from the Library of Congress. That never happened, but if
you're willing to pay $.50 US per page of music, I'd be glad to
make copies for you. I hope that doesn't sound expensive - it
just about covers the effort involved. Just go to my web page,
add up the total pages of *music*, multiply by $.50 and send your
order to me.
THEE: collecting monopoly rent
I just read your "thoughts on Monopoly." Very interesting and a
couple of good rule changes.
This part, however, made me want to write:
[It's been pointed out to me a couple of times that the rules
now say, "The owner may not collect his rent if he fails to ask
for it before the second player following throws the dice." This
is what the 1973 rule-sheet says. Am I crazy, or has the rule
been changed? No one played like that when I was a kid. The rule-
sheet I found for an older British Monopoly game clearly states
that the landlord has only until the next player rolls. In any
case, the new rule is only a slight improvement, is not elegant,
and is still not realistic.]
The original 1933 rules state: "LANDING ON OWNED PROPERTY the
owner collects his rent in accordance to the list printed on the
TITLE CARD. If the property is MORTGAGED no rent can be
collected. If the owner fails to ask for his rent before the dice
change hands twice, the debt is uncollectable." (See
http://www.adena.com/adena/mo/mo26.htm)
It has been that way since the beginning.
Cheers!
ME: collecting monopoly rent
After all these years, you're the first to answer my question.
Thanks a million! I must say, though, that I am dumbfounded. I
can't imagine I would have missed that, even as a youngster.
I'll eventually work your reply into my page. Thanks again.
THEE: collecting rent
After doing even more reading on the internet I found out that in
the games that came before Monopoly (The Landlord's Game and
Finance) the person who rent was owed to had even longer to
realize that someone was on their property. According to these
rules the landlord had until the renter left the space on his
next turn to collect. That rule has a sense of rough justice to
it. It only makes sense that one would be able to collect rent
as long as that person was still on the property.
THEE: Re: rare piece?
Yes, i finally found it but only the midi file, on
http://www.midisource.net/download2.html so i'll just have to
listen to it and learn it that way. thank you and have a great
playing!
donaldsauter@email.com wrote:
>Hi Ilia,
>The title Corranda is not at all familiar. Do you remember how
it started, or any extract from the tune?
>Donald Sauter
THEE: "Ants"
Yesterday I received from Richard Long a photo copy of the main
page of the WGS newsletter(Jan-Feb) about the guitar orchestra
doing my composition "The Floating Ancilliary Ants". What a
pleasant surprise! There have been quite a few performances of it
but I think this is the first time (I'm aware of) the program
notes about the flooding water,etc., have been included in a
newsletter...cool! It really happens...I took a picture of this
big floating mass of ants in a cow pasture that had been
flooded...the next day they were still there just as alive as can
be! I witnessed this more than once. When Steve Robinson of
Stetson U. commissioned me to write a work for guitar orchestra
in 1992 this image just popped into my mind and the rest is
history. I hope you enjoyed doing it. How did you find out about
it? How did it go? Was it recorded? I have solo works published
with Richard(Tuscany/Presser) as well if you're interested. I
look forward to hearing back from you and tell me about yourself
and the WGS. Thanks!
Rex Willis
PS: I'd get a kick out of getting a full copy of the original
newsletter if you have an extra...
THEE: request
Been on your site, Like it very much I would just like you to
post me the On the beautiful blue danube waltzes by
Hayden/Strauss, tabs or solphage as soon as possible Would
appreciate if it could it as soon as possible Thank you very much
THEE: mp3 vs wav
Mike (my friend who converted the DAT to MP3) confirmed it, and
indeed he elaborated: MP3 files are generally a meg. a minute,
and this was a 6 meg. file, and it was about approx 5 minutes of
playing time, more or less. Wave files are approx. 10 times
larger than mp3 files - it would have been about a 50-60 meg file
if it had been a wave file. Just a FYI.
ME: PG school board selection
Dear Mr. South,
Doreen Riggin from the Governor's office forwarded my offer to
serve on the prince George's County School Board to you, and
suggested I get in touch with you if I had any questions. I just
wanted to confirm that my communication was received by the State
Board of Education. No doubt I am a completely "unknown
quantity" to you, but I would hope that the promise of following
the will of the people of Prince George's County in every matter
sounds highly attractive. I've seen people expressing concern in
the local paper about a non-elected school board which does not
answer to the public. What I am offering is an even greater
degree of responsiveness to public will than the ordinary
election of representatives provides.
Please get in touch for any reason. My favored email service,
the Detroit freenet, is currently out of commission - for how
long, I don't know. (I am now using an unfamiliar email editor
at the local library, so please excuse any strange formatting.)
ME: PG County school board
I sent Governor Glendening a letter expressing my interest in
working on the Prince George's County school board. You very
kindly and helpfully forwarded it to the Maryland State Board of
Education before the closing time for applications. At your
suggestion, I emailed Tony South to make sure my application had
been received and was under consideration. I still haven't heard
anything from the State Board, which concerns me. I am sure that
my promise of being a voice for the people in every matter would
alleviate much of the concern citizens have over being
disenfranchised.
To be honest, I'm afraid that the anti-MSPAP sentiments which I
expressed in my original letter may be resented by the State
Board. I worry that they might have caused my application to be
dismissed out-of-hand.
I understand the Governor's role in the process is to select from
a list put forth by the State Board, but any help or suggestion
of what I can do to ensure fair consideration for the final list
would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again.
For your convenience, here is a copy of the original letter:
Gov. Parris N. Glendening State House Annapolis, MD 21401
Dear Gov. Glendening,
I read your commentary, "Rising to the challenge for our
children's future," in the Gazette newspaper. Please allow me to
recommend myself for a position on the Prince George's County
school board. Here are some of my qualifications.
- I have been a resident of Prince George''s County for over 20
years.
- Over the last 5 years I have worked in eelementary schools in
the Lanham area as a volunteer; as a one-on-one for special needs
students; and as a coach working with students, two at a time, in
preparation for the MSPAP test.
- I know a lot about what it takes to be aa good student. I was a
top student throughout my 12 years of public schooling in
Baltimore County. At the same time, I know full well that
academic achievement is not the only measure of a person's worth.
- I would offer a voice of "common sense" on the school board.
By that, I mean that I would examine every proposal from the
perspective of, "Will this serve to strengthen the skills and
increase the knowledge of the students?"
- I believe public servants should be publlic servants. I have
very definite thoughts on the direction public education should
take, but would never try to force something through over the
will of the people. In fact, in issues where there is any doubt,
my action as a school board member would be based on a poll of
county residents.
Regarding my MSPAP coaching mentioned above: I worked with
third-graders at Seabrook Elementary School two-at-a-time for
three months leading up to the 2001 MSPAP. The performance of
the third-graders improved enough to raise the composite score
for the school by a modest amount, in spite of a decline by the
fifth-graders. Obviously, I can't claim credit for the improved
score, since it was a different bunch of students taking a
different test, but at least no one can argue the opposite - that
my methods don't work - as one might argue if the test scores had
declined.
Again, about the MSPAP: Few people, if any, worked as hard as
myself to have the test eliminated. My objections to the test
were many; you can find them detailed on the Maryland Sailor
system web site by going to:
http://www.sailor.lib.md.us/free/space.html
That essay was written long before the release of the scores this
year and the flurry of attention surrounding the event. I submit
those thoughts as evidence of a very healthy perception of
educational issues - indisputably ahead of the state board
itself, as it turns out. Although Maryland education officials
are obliged to put a positive spin on the dropping of the MSPAP,
it should be obvious to anyone that if it were a good and
valuable test, it would not be dropped. My disdain for the
MSPAP test and my joy of preparing students for it do not
represent an inconsistency. How that can be, I leave as an
exercise for the reader.
ME: Subject: thornton commission
If at all possible, please don't capitalize tv - I despise "TV".
If tv won't fly, please substitute "television". (Assuming you
can use the letter, of course.)
Dear Gazette,
In your article "Glendening signs school board restructuring
bill, 130 others" (May 9 2002), you discussed the 34-cents-a-pack
cigarette tax hike which will be used to fund the $1.3 billion
per year increase in state education spending. This is all well
and good, since I don't have a tobacco habit to support, but
there is one small remaining problem - namely, a $1.2 billion per
year shortfall.
Not to worry, I have the solution for that - a $1000 per year tax
on every tv set you own. Who could gripe about that? It works
out to less than $3 a day for your television fix. Admittedly,
this might strain some budgets, but if the tv collection has to
be downsized in some households, well, there would be that much
more time for homework!
I haven't worked out the numbers precisely, but if there is any
money left over, it can be put toward all-day pre-K, all-day pre-
pre-K, all-day nursery, all-day advanced post-natal, all-day
early post-natal, and all-day pre-natal, while money supplies
last.
ME: guitar orch, wgs newsletter submission
[I'd like to make a big deal out of this. In fact, I'd like to
see it appear as the the page 1 headline for the newsletter. If
a recording on the web doesn't stir up interest for future
orchestra sessions, then I give up. I'm not attached to the
article, so beef it up if you're inclined. In particular, if you
wanted listen to the recording and add some glowing review
comments, that'd be great. In the name Levesque (it appears in 2
articles), put a ' right over the first e.]
WGS Orchestra Plays for the Whole Wide World!
In our April meeting, WGS members and friends had a great time
rehearsing, playing and recording "Tango Estampie" by Luc
Levesque. Now that the WGS has a website, the recording has been
put up on the web in MP3 format. It sounds pretty darn good -
you shoulda been part of it! Read about our session elsewhere in
the newsletter. We apologize for not taking down full names of
all 10 players, but here's a list of the WGS guitars "heard
'round the world!"
THE JULY WGS PROGRAM
Our Guitar Orchestra Keeps Rolling!
Haul yourself and your guitar to the Friday, July 19, meeting for
another fun guitar orchestra session. It will start promptly at
7:30 pm at the Chevy Chase Community Center. (See the Calendar
of Events for directions.) This time we will play four pieces
by Michael Praetorius from his "Terpsichore" of 1612. These
pieces were arranged for guitar ensemble by Gilbert Biberian.
You probably already know how fresh and lively Praetorius' music
is. If not, join in and find out!
All of the pieces are in five parts, and the parts themselves are
all single-line. The good thing about playing single notes in an
ensemble is that you can shape them up and punch them out in a
way that just isn't possible in a multi-voiced part. For
example, it's very difficult, if not impossible, to play a melody
and bass line simultaneously with rest strokes.
All of the parts can be considered "easy". Only Guitar 1 gets
near or above the 12th fret. The relative simplicity of the
parts makes it possible to fly - L.A. Guitar Quartet, look out!
If you think you need a part in advance, I will mail it to you.
See the contact information at the bottom; telephone much
preferred over email. If you get my answering machine, or in
your email, please tell me 3 things: your name; your complete
mailing address; and whether you want a "high", "middle" or "low"
part. Simple as that. But getting a part in advance is never a
requirement - and even less necessary for these Praetorius pieces
- so come on down in any case. As always,, we welcome everyone,
whether or not a WGS member.
As this newsletter goes to press, we don't know who will direct
the guitar orchestra. We certainly don't want to burden the same
people all the time. How about it, area teachers and performers?
Here's a chance to join the fun and promote yourself at the same
time. Give our president a call.
We'll record our performance as usual, and I promise we'll do a
better job crediting the participants this time!
Tango Revisited
As trumpeted on page 1, our guitar orchestra played and recorded
"Tango Estampie" by Luq Levesque at the April meeting. Almost
everybody reading this missed a chance to be part of something
that was not only a lot of fun, but much farther reaching and
longer lasting than the event itself.
A very special thanks goes to Phyllis Fleming, D.C. area
violinist (and tour guide extraordinaire) for directing the
orchestra. You're going to have to find a better writer than me
to describe what a great job Phyllis did pulling us together, and
how enjoyable she made it for us all. The recording you hear on
the web represents only about our third play-through of the
Tango, if I remember rightly. Keep in mind that the orchestra
consisted of players of all levels of ability - no more than two
or three of whom had seen or played their part before (we'll get
back to that.)
Tuning a bunch of guitars always seems to be a problem, but
Phyllis came up with an effective and efficient method. The
first step is for everybody to tune up as well as possible to
some standard note. Then, a "concert-master" with trustworthy
tuning gets the ball rolling by playing his open high E string.
Then, going up and down the rows of the orchestra, everyone plays
the same open string in rapid succession - ping, ping, ping,
ping! When an out-of-tune note is heard, any keen-eared soul
calls out "sharp!" or "flat!", and the process is halted for a
moment while the note is fixed. The process continues until all
the open string notes are right on. It goes quick.
Rehearsing and playing the Tango was, for me, as fun as the
guitar gets. Still, there were some disappointments. The crowd
was smaller than for our previous guitar orcestra. For "The
Floating Ancillary Ants" in April we had 15 players; this time we
had 10. Figuring everybody had had a great time then, I was
hoping to see that group, plus more. Actually, I can't
understand why we don't get numbers in the hundreds - not that we
could accommodate that many, but if even a tiny percentage of the
area's thousands of guitarists thought it was a fun thing to play
with, and for, fellow guitarists, WGS orchestra sessions and
members' recitals would burst at the seams. Teachers, this is a
fantastic opportunity for your students.
I had distributed parts of the Tango in advance to more than 20
guitarists, about 5 of whom showed up. No doubt obligations
arise that are more important than a guitar society get-together,
but a better reliability rate would minimize people having to
switch to a different part at the session.
We could do a better job getting ourselves set up. It wasn't
until 8:00 or so that everybody had finally settled into his spot
in the orchestra. There were definite forces working against
getting going - party types bent on socializing first - but I
won't name names. If this was making me a little "uptight", you
can understand I was having a flashback to the previous, "Ants"
session, where we had also frittered away the first half hour -
and got kicked out just as we were starting to pull the piece
together. I could imagine - and would like to see - a hundred
guitarists arriving and setting up within a few minutes. By the
way, begging people who show up to pull out their guitars and
join in is getting a bit wearysome.
It was unfortunate that the community center was somehow not
expecting us that evening. I am very grateful that they wrestled
a room away from a couple of ping-pongers for our sake, but
still, it would be nice to have a meeting place where we can
relax and have a good time, and not always feel like we're
imposing and on the point of getting thrown out. Does anyone who
digs guitar and enjoys entertaining have a ranch-style home with
a large basement?
All in all, though, the pluses beat the minuses by a country
mile.
THEE: Subject: Hidden Ball Trick
What is the official ruling on the hidden ball trick? How close
can the pitcher get to the rubber without the ball? I thought
that the pitcher can not step on the MOUND without the ball, not
just the rubber.
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