VOA – CONNECT
EPISODE # 328
AIR DATE: 04 26 2024
FULL SHOW TRANSCRIPT


SHOW OPEN
((Animation))
((VO/NAT/SOT))
Handbells for Seniors
((SOT))
((Alan Payne
Executive Director, Music to Free))
Playing music engages both sides of your brain because not only are you doing the artistic side, but you also have the dexterity side.
((Animation))

The Heart of Cajun Music
((SOT))
((Trish McGee
Owner, Fred’s Lounge))
Welcome to Fred's Lounge in Big Mamou, Louisiana.
Fred's Lounge was built in 1946, and it's an icon all over the world.
((Animation))

Programming AI to Dream

((SOT))

((Refik Anadol
Artist))
This tool is intelligent. This tool can enhance the human mind and our capacity of imagination, learning, remembering. Our cognitive capacity can be enhanced by AI.

((TITLE)) HANDBELLS
((TRT: 8:18))
((Banner: Playing Handbells and bringing people together))
((Reporter: Marsha James))
((Camera/Editor: Philip Alexiou))
((Map: Reston, Virginia))
((Main characters: 0 female; 1 male))
((Sub characters: 3 female; 0 male))
((Blub: Anyone can play handbells no matter how old you are. It just takes patience and drive.))
((Banner: Executive Director Alan Payne of Music to Free introduces hand bells to seniors while fellowshipping through music.))
((NATS: ((Alan Payne))
Don’t forget your music. Here we go. Ready? 49.
One, two, three, four. ((Repeated))
((Alan Payne
Executive Director, Music to Free))
I think playing any type of music is just a great brain activity and on different levels. Listening to music just helps to elevate your mood, helps to relieve some of the symptoms of depression.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Alan Payne
Executive Director, Music to Free))
Playing music engages both sides of your brain because not only are you doing the artistic side, but you also have the dexterity side. And so that's where the name Music to Free came from, is when I am practicing or when I'm playing music, I push out all the other noise in my life, and it just frees my mind to be in the moment and be present to play the music. And with handles, you have an ensemble of people, so you're fellowshipping in general, just by the nature of the instrument. And it's a very social, engaging activity that is so very important, especially for seniors that often live alone, are widows or widowers, and they have limited social interaction at times.
((Alan Payne
Executive Director, Music to Free))
So this is an opportunity to come together and do something where you are part of something that's much bigger. My kids started playing handbells at church, and I had an interest in that, and was substituting for some of the ringers when they were out, and eventually just joined the adult choir. And I'd been playing handbells for almost 20 years. So, the reason I liked handbells for this, is we would bring the church handbell choir out here to do a Christmas program for the residents. And after the concert, the residents would come up and want to see how to ring the handbells. And some of our ringers were ringing two and three bells in each hand, and they were just fascinated how they had the coordination and how we set the bells up to do that. And so that was kind of the genesis for starting Music to Free because I asked about coming and doing a handbell program for the residents. ((NATS))
((Alan Payne
Executive Director, Music to Free))
Music to Free started in October of 2020 in the middle of the pandemic, and we decided to formulate a formal nonprofit so that we could come and do our teaching programs under the umbrella of that, and also look for donors and sponsors for some of our programs, because we provide the programs at no cost to the residents or the facility.
((NATS: Alan Payne))
One, two, three, four. ((Repeated))
((Alan Payne
Executive Director, Music to Free))
Anyone can ring handbells in my opinion, whether you have a musical background, whether you read music or not. The ladies that are playing here at Reston, three years ago, none of them had any musical experience, none of them had played an instrument. And we started from the very basic. How do you read music? What's a quarter note? What's a half note? And how to ring the handbells? And in two and a half years, they've been able to progress to the point where they can get a new piece of music, look through it, and play it for the first time and do a good job.
((NATS: Alan Payne))
One, two, three, four. One, two, three, four.
((Alan Payne
Executive Director, Music to Free))
So, the ladies that are ringing here at the Fellowship House in Reston, range in age from about 72 [years old] to 92 [years old].
((Greer Casey Martin
Handbell Ringer, Music to Free))
Greer Casey Martin. I’m 72 years old. I love playing the handbells. I think I’m doing pretty good.
((Zhangying Chen
Handbell Ringer, Music to Free))
My name is Zhangying Chen. I am 87 years old. I love handbells. Teacher is very nice. Jane (social worker) also is very nice.
((Zhenhua Gao
Handbell Ringer, Music to Free))
My name is Zhenhua Gao. I’m 88 years old. I love handbells very much. We have a wonderful teacher and a very wonderful social worker to arrange all the things. I enjoy the lessons and make me active. And life is so much beautiful.
((NATS))
((Alan Payne
Executive Director, Music to Free))
When we started, I learned quickly to group them by their origin and nationality. We have those from China, those from Korea, those from Vietnam. And although English is not their primary language, they all speak it very well and understand it. But when we introduce something new musically or something new, a new technique with the handbells, having them grouped together by their nationality, they break off into their own little subgroups and just talk about it, and whoever has the best concept of the idea, explains it to the rest of them. And so, as soon as we introduce something new, you'll hear people going off in Chinese people in Korean, people in Vietnamese.

And then we have some others from other countries, and they just all work together, and then it all comes together in the end.
((Alan Payne
Executive Director, Music to Free))
It’s a very controlled movement, so even those that have limited mobility or they might have the use of only one hand, they can still ring handbells and be part of an ensemble. You don't need the dexterity you do for playing piano, playing clarinet, a violin, and cello. So it's very accessible. And the bells are light, the higher pitched bells are light. So, you don't have to worry about injuring yourself. Our movement is a very controlled movement. And that's why it's so accessible to seniors, and it's just a total brain workout, learning how to play a musical instrument.
((NATS))
((Alan Payne
Executive Director, Music to Free))
It's up to the individual. Trevor, who did the solo at our Christmas concert, I think has been ringing for almost 40 years, and he has rung with various church choirs around the country where he's lived. He’s run with different community groups that are typically advanced handbell ringers, like Bronze Unlimited. So, he does have a lot of experience, but it comes down to your drive and your willingness to practice.
((NATS))
((Alan Payne
Executive Director, Music to Free))

It’s all volunteer work for me, which is what’s so gratifying, because I get to give back to the community, both our micro community and then a larger community, out here with the seniors.
((NATS: Alan Payne))
One, two, three, four. ((Repeated))

TEASE
((VO/NAT/SOT))
Coming Up…
((Title))
The Heart of Cajun Music
((SOT))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Blake Whitmire
Musician))
It’s just…it's dance music.

BUMPER
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((SOCIAL MEDIA PKG.))
((TITLE)) FREEDOM ON WHEELS
((TRT: 01:00))
((Original Reporter/Camera/Producer: Genia Dulot))
((Social Media Producer/Editor: Lisa Vohra))
((Blurb: Meet Tracie, a woman who embraces her wheelchair as a source of liberation.))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Tracie Garacochea
Adaptive Skateboarder))
Because you have a wheelchair doesn’t mean you can’t do an extreme sport.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Tracie Garacochea
Adaptive Skateboarder))
I kept on having vertigo and things would happen, like my hands started not functioning well and I was doing sculpture and I couldn’t hold the tools and I was dropping them on my feet and those are really sharp.
((Tracie Garacochea
Adaptive Skateboarder))
Finally, I am diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. So the lady whose chair I tried said to me, “A wheelchair is just a tool.” And that made sense to me.
((Tracie Garacochea
Adaptive Skateboarder))
A wheelchair improved the quality of my life and it gave me a sport. It’s just, that moment was one of the best in my life.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Tracie Garacochea
Adaptive Skateboarder))
I just want people to see when I am out there, that this is possible. And it’s possible at 17. It’s possible at 20. It’s possible at 30. And darn it, it’s possible at 60.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Tracie Garacochea
Adaptive Skateboarder))
It feels like you are flying.


BUMPER
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((TITLE)) FRED’S LOUNGE, THE HEART OF CAJUN MUSIC
((TRT: 11:00))

((Banner: Fred’s Lounge, The Heart of Cajun Music))
((Reporter/Camera: Aaron Fedor))
((Producer: Kathleen McLaughlin))
((Editor: Kyle Dubiel))
((Map: Mamou, Louisiana))
((Main characters: 1 female; 1 male))
((Sub characters: 5 female; 4 male))
((Blurb: Open only on Saturday mornings, Fred’s Lounge has been hosting Cajun bands and keeping Cajun culture alive since 1946.))
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Courtesy: Richard DesHotels))
((Mike Perron
92.5-KVPI-FM))
Thank you all for joining us. They're going to be here till five o'clock. Like I said, at least this band is…they got a lot going on here at Fred's Lounge all weekend.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Trish McGee
Owner, Fred’s Lounge))
Welcome to Fred's Lounge in Big Mamou, Louisiana.
Fred's Lounge was built in 1946, and it's an icon all over the world. We have people from Germany, Australia, France, just to come and listen to our music, and dance and drink a Bloody Mary every once in a while. We're only open on Saturdays. From 7:30 [am] till 1:30 [pm] the band plays, but if it's packed, we stay open the rest of the day.
((Blake Whitmire
Musician))
I'm here at Fred's Lounge because this is the place where you're going to find the best Cajun music in Louisiana.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Donny Broussard
Musician, Donny Broussard and Louisiana Stars))
This is the third generation. My grandfather had the band, and my uncle and I played with him until he passed away, so we just kept it going. This is, like I said, this is the third generation of the band. It was always Cajun music.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Keri McGee Miller))
I feel sorry for people who aren't Cajun. We grew up in a community that everybody's close, you know. Everybody is just…we speak French. People look at us as weird, but I feel sorry for other people. It's just…it’s awesome. The people, the music. I mean, I listen to this, and my hips just go to the music. It's just…it's awesome.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Barry Jean Ancelet
Professor Emeritus, Francophone Studies
University of Louisiana at Lafayette))
What is now Louisiana became a state in 1812, and immediately there was pressure applied to this non-English speaking place to Americanize itself. So that's when the Renaissance started…was right after World War II. We began to see Cajun music, which had been neglected by the recording studios for a decade.
They began to be recorded again and there was this new appreciation for who we are, not to get sort of drowned out in this vast Americana.
((Courtesy: Richard DesHotels))
((Barry Jean Ancelet
Professor Emeritus, Francophone Studies
University of Louisiana at Lafayette))
They were reading the signs that were beginning to emerge at that time. You know, Fred told me when Iry LeJeune's first record came out, the first time Cajun music was recorded in quite a while, was on their jukeboxes. And he said, if he never heard the “Evangeline Special” again in his life, that would be fine, because it was all that played all day long, every day, for months, because as soon as that record was there, people said, “Yeah, that's what I like. That's what it is I want.” They kept shoving nickels in the jukebox and listening. It became sort of, you know, a mantra, basically for this sense of renewed interest in ourselves.
((Barry Jean Ancelet
Professor Emeritus, Francophone Studies
University of Louisiana at Lafayette))
Fred was conscious, self-conscious of this, but, you know, of course they were all aware that something was happening and that it felt good to not have to feel bad about yourself again. They were just really great hosts. Tante Sue made everybody feel, you know, welcome, and she was always so joyous, and she was way more than a barmaid. She was like an animator, an animatrice that we call it in French.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Steve Riley
Musician
Steve Riley and Mamou Playboys))
Anyone who knows Fred's Lounge knows Tante Sue. She was a barmaid, who would have a holster with her schnapps and her drinks, and she would serve people, and she would sing with the band. And she embodies what Mamou is, the joie de vivre [enjoyment of life] of Fred's coming together around the music, the culture, every Saturday morning, and it's broadcast for the world to hear.
She was there from the beginning. She saw it all come together. She saw the Cajun Renaissance happen. When people realized that what we had here was great, it started being exported outside of Louisiana, and therefore, people started coming here. Dignitaries, you know, just people who fell in love with the music and the culture.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Rachel Lafleur
Fred’s granddaughter))
About staying in Mamou.
((Tante Sue
Fred’s Lounge Bartender))
I will go all over the world with y’all’s camera without leaving Mamou.
((Rachel Lafleur
Fred’s granddaughter))
She's going to go all over the world on film, but stay in Mamou.
((Tante Sue
Fred’s Lounge Bartender))
This is Fred. This is a portrait of Fred.
((Rachel Lafleur
Fred’s granddaughter))
I think it was in 1942. He and his twin brother bought it. It was Tate's Bar. His twin brother went missing in the Bermuda Triangle, and then he purchased it in 1946. Fred bought it and it became Fred's Bar.
I've been going to Fred's as long as I can remember. Mom would let us. She would bring us on Saturdays, sometimes just for us to listen to the music and be with our grandparents.
((Tante Sue
Fred’s Lounge Bartender))
I was 16 years old. I graduated from high school, May the 28th, 1948. I refused to get married at 16 [years old]. So, I made my 17th birthday on June the 3rd. I got married June the 9th to Fred. I started popping “hot damn”. We couldn't keep enough bottles in the place to sell. Once I started once, I’ll pop a drink, and I'd give everybody a drink if they wanted one. Then they'd all buy a half pint.
I was born and raised French. And it just so happened with Fred owning the bar, we were able to promote Cajun music, and Cajun language, and Cajun living. Joie de vivre, joys of life.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Wanda Verrette
Treasurer, Mamou Cajun Music Festival))
When Fred was alive, the bar was open every day. I don't know about Sunday, but, you know, almost every day. They had people coming in during the day and drinking. And on Friday afternoons, you know, everybody would gather there after work. And when he got sick is when it started just opening on Saturdays, and we're not sure what year that was.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Blake Whitmire
Musician))
It's all feel to me. Like you can probably hear it in the background right now, but it's just…it's dance music. And I think it's first purpose is to serve as a thing for people to dance to. And so, it's always grooving.
((Tante Sue
Fred’s Lounge Bartender))
Dancing was my favorite thing. I was just like every other Cajun though. I'm a hard worker. Work was a challenge to me, but I love to dance.
((Rachel Lafleur
Fred’s granddaughter))
So the bands that come are strictly French music. A lot of people call it Cajun music. We call it French music. For all my children, I have three boys, they were all brought up with Cajun music. They all love Cajun music. My youngest son is actually with us in the Cajun Music Festival Association. So, I do my part in trying to keep it, get my family involved. I think that the more we promote it with our kids and our younger generations, the further it'll go.
((Ashlee Eastin Wilson
Writer, French Teacher))
Cajun music was born here in the prairies of South Louisiana. It's where the natives, the French, the German, the Spanish, and the Africans all met. I mean, out here, we were all kind of sharecropping, doing the same thing, and so there was a lot of cultural overlap. We had the same religion. We had the same foodways. And so there was a lot of sharing at house dances and just between neighbors. So, there was a special breed of music that was born of that. There's the German accordion, and then, of course, the African rhythms, and the French or Acadian fiddle. So I would say when you have the rhythm, and then the fiddle and the accordion, that those are the keys to Cajun or Zydeco music.
((NATS/MUSIC))
((Tante Sue
Fred’s Lounge Bartender))
Cajuns like having a good time, and bon temp is good time. They like eating. They like drinking liquor. But they like working also. They work very hard. They love working. Working is a joy. Joy of life. Cajuns are always happy. It is true. They have a very joyous outlook on life. Your Cajun people do. Hot damn!
((NATS))

((PKG)) AI AS AN ART FORM
((TRT: 4:25))
((Topic Banner: Programming AI [Artificial Intelligence] to Dream))
((Reporter/Camera/Editor/Producer: Genia Dulot))
((Map: Los Angeles, California))
((Main characters: 0 female; 1 male))
((Sub characters: 0 female; 0 male))
((Blurb: Refik Anadol, an artist at the forefront of data painting and AI-generated art, explores the fusion of technology and creativity. By leveraging machine-learning algorithms, Anadol is known for innovative media works and showcases the creative potential of AI)).

((MUSIC/NATS))
((Opening shots are Courtesy of MoMA 00:00:00-00:10:09))
((Courtesy: MoMA))
((Refik Anadol
Artist))
It was 2008 when, I think, I coined the term “data painting”, and I’m still looking for anyone else before 2008 who used this wording. In 2008, I started to work with custom algorithms and software’s, which is allowing me and team to understand the invisible pattern of data around us. In 2016, I was one of the first-generation artists working with AI [Artificial Intelligence] at Google. And Google invited an artist to learn how to use AI to create art. And the idea here is to try to create experiences with using collective memories of humanity. This can be the image archive such as nature, or space such as NASA JPL [Nasa Jet Propulsion Laboratory], Mars, ISS [International Space Station], Hubble [Hubble Space Telescope],
((Courtesy: MoMA))
or it can be culture such as MoMA, Museum of Modern Art archives.
((end Courtesy))
((MUSIC))
((Refik Anadol
Artist))
So in the studio, we are working with a diverse amount of archival data sets, and letting machine-learning algorithms to learn from them to create machine hallucinations or machine dreams.
So here, we are seeing an incredible amount of millions of images about nature. Like specifically this part you are seeing here is the flowers. And from this data, if you come here, we trained an AI. And this is a real time AI application. It may be one of the first in the world that allows us to look at what AI learned from that data.
So here, I’m flying literally in the mind of a machine. And on the right side, this algorithm can create almost realistic photos of flowers. And as you see here is also real time, can interact with AI’s mind.
((Refik Anadol
Artist))
This, for example, algorithm can real time go and find an image here and represents what the machine can dream.
So what you are watching here is, for example, this one. It’s literally taking 300 million raw image archives from nature and reconstructing the data sculpture.
Here, we are watching an AI kind of dreaming the dreams of a satellite, such as ISS, MRO [Magdalena Ridge Observatory], and Hubble Telescope. And Hubble Telescope by NASA JPL is recording the universe for us, the galaxies for us. And the question was, what would be the dream of a telescope, and how can we visualize the dreams?
((MUSIC))
((Refik Anadol
Artist))
AI, in my mind, is a collaborative co-creator, the idea of working with large data sets that are beyond our capacity of, as humans' capacity of imagination, and even, I guess, cognitive capacity. Like let’s imagine a million images of all the flowers in the world. There is no single way to remember all the flowers in the world. But with AI algorithm, I can easily say that in this AI model, there is all the flower types in this AI model. Now, I want to imagine a brush that I can put in this mind of a machine and paint with this pigmentation. To me, the artmaking is still the artmaking. But the brush itself is invented, the pigment is invented, the context is invented from scratch.
((MUSIC))
((Refik Anadol
Artist))
This tool is intelligent. This tool can enhance the human mind and our capacity of imagination, learning, remembering. Our cognitive capacity can be enhanced by AI. I see a lot of possibilities in a good way. Instead of pushing humans out, I’m just more seeing that as a human, using AI for me, enhancing my skill set. AI is allowing me to go beyond what I can do. I’m seeing, not a threat, but more like an advantage of like applying to my conscious model, cognitive capacity. AI can bring an extreme positive possibilities for humanity. It’s really all about how we look from and where we look from. And I do believe AI is just a form of mirror. And that’s about humanity, not about AI.
((MUSIC))

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((PKG)) NATURE: Plane Watch
((Title: Nature: Plane Watch))
((TRT: 2:00))
((Reporter: Philip Alexiou))
((Camera/Editor/Producer: Philip Alexiou))
((Location: Arlington, Virginia))
((Description: Along the George Washington Memorial Parkway is Gravelly Point run by the National Park Service. A spot for bikers, walkers, picnics and one of the best places in the country for airplane-watching.))

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IN COMING WEEKS
((VO/NAT/SOT))
In coming weeks…
((Title))
The New Bronze Age
((SOT))

((NATS/MUSIC))
((Carol Newmyer
Bronze Sculptor))

The expression I like to use is participatory art. I like the fact many of my pieces can be taken apart, put in many different positions. Changed. and you can interact with them. So if art is meant to communicate, then the person who is interacting with the piece is communicating back. So it's a full cycle communication experience through art.

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((SOCIAL MEDIA PKG.))
((TITLE)) FROM BUCHENWALD TO BROOKLYN
((TRT: 01:00))
((Original Producer: Marsha James))

((Original Camera/Editor: Kaveh Rezaei))
((Social Media Producer/Editor: Lisa Vohra))

((Blurb: Martin Greenfield, a Holocaust survivor, arrived in the United States in 1947 as an orphan. Starting as a floor boy in a NYC suit factory, he eventually became the owner and the tailor for celebrities and U.S. Presidents, leading Martin Greenfield Clothiers since 1977 and authoring a book detailing his journey.))

((Martin Greenfield
Holocaust Survivor, Tailor))

When somebody comes to buy something, I know how to measure him. And I know when I fit him, he gets a perfect suit.

((Martin Greenfield
Holocaust Survivor, Tailor))

I was born in the Carpathian Mountains in Czechoslovakia. I was taken when I was very young to Auschwitz. My family I lost. The Germans killed them.

((Martin Greenfield
Holocaust Survivor, Tailor))

They gave me different kinds of jobs, so I could survive. Because my father always said, “think about surviving.”

((Martin Greenfield
Holocaust Survivor, Tailor))

My name is Martin Greenfield and I am the tailor for all presidents. President Clinton, President Obama came to see me. All my life, I started like I was nobody, but I became somebody because of my ability to learn and to do the job the best.

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SHOW ENDS