Author: ssw15

I didn’t mean to post on this date, not exactly, but I couldn’t ignore how beautiful the weather was today, so eerily reminiscent of four years ago. I watched some of the ceremony at the World Trade Center site this morning, more than I thought I would, and I couldn’t avoid feeling sad and thoughtful. And, tonight, I can look out in the backyard and see the Tower of Lights.

In the wee hours of Thursday morning (or late Wednesday night), CBS aired the end of the Andre Agassi v. James Blake quarter final game. It was great watch – I don’t exactly understand tennis, but watching the game was fun. Agassi and Blake are such gracious players and great people. It was hard to decide who to root for – I rooted for both. Kudos to Agassi for ultimately winning, but they’re both winners in my book.

Hmm. This MSNBC article on the passing of Bob Denver (“Gilligan”) is very illuminating:

Gilligan… was industrious but inept. And his character was as lovable as he was inept. Viewers embraced the skinny kid in the Buster Brown haircut and white sailor hat. So did the skipper, who was played by Alan Hale Jr. and who always referred to his first mate affectionately as “little buddy.” [….]

“As silly as it seems to all of us, it has made a difference in a lot of children’s lives,” Dawn Wells, who played castaway Mary Ann Summers, once said. “Gilligan is a buffoon that makes mistakes and I cannot tell you how many kids come up and say, ‘But you loved him anyway.”’

Umm, what? Mary Ann had a last name? As the theme song goes: “Gilligan, the Skipper too, the millionaire, and his wife, the moo-vie star, the professor and Mary Ann, here on Gilligan’s Isle.” I mean, the only characters I always thought had last names were the Howells (Thurston Howell III, the millionaire, and Lovey Howell). Well, okay, so I was only a kid when I used to watch endless summer reruns of Gilligan’s Island; I mean, it never really occurred to me that “Skipper” wasn’t really the guy’s name, rather than his rank (like “Captain” or something). But, the article reveals that not only did Mary Ann had a last name, so did Ginger (Grant), and the Professor had a full name (Roy Hinkley, Jr.). This Washington Post appreciation of Gilligan by Paul Farhi notes:

(“Gilligan’s” creator, Sherwood Schwartz, set out to skewer that elitism from the start by naming the S.S. Minnow after FCC chairman Newton Minow, who had denounced American television a “vast wasteland.”)

Schwartz believed his tale of lost souls was a sly microcosm of the earth. His philosophical implication — if something so slight as “Gilligan” can be said to have a philosophy or implications — was that the castaways were humanity itself: seven disparate, archetypical humans (the smart one, the sexy one, the rich one, the girl-woman next door, etc.), flung together randomly and thrown into a hostile, inescapable environment with only their talents to contribute to a common good.

Denver, of course, played Everyman. The lovable loser, the bumbler. Schlemiel against nature. Week after week, you could count on Gilligan to foul up whatever complicated escape plan his fellow castaways had constructed. Not that he was malicious. Quite the opposite — he was good-hearted and loving, always concerned for the welfare of his fellows (remember: “If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost”). But despite Gilligan’s best intentions, cruel fate always intervened.

Farhi also noted that Gilligan’s full name was Willy Gilligan – Gilligan was his last name?! And the Skipper? He was Jonas Grumby. What? Weird, but not entirely inappropriate (grumbly ol’ Skipper yelling “Gilligan!”). Hmm.

And, then there’s this classic “Peanuts” in the newspapers of 9/8/05 (and originally published in Sept. 4, 1969), in time for the 1st day of school (for NYC kids anyway):

Sally is sitting at her desk; teacher is (as usual) unseen, off-panel.
Panel 1 – Sally: Yes, ma’am? My name?

Sally stands up, by her desk, still facing the unseen, unheard teacher. Sally looks stern.
Panel 2 – Sally: My name is Sally Brown, and I hate school!

Panel 3 – Sally stands still, looking at the unseen, unheard teacher. Deadpan. Silence.

Sally remains standing still, by her desk, still facing the unseen, unheard teacher.
Panel 4 – Sally: Please, don’t cry…

Poor teacher. 😉 Also, I swear this might have been among the rare instances where Sally actually uses her last name. I mean, Charlie Brown was always “Charlie Brown,” and Sally (although obviously she’s “Sally Brown”) was always “Sally.” (and, by the way, interesting that the Browns and the Van Pelts (Lucy, Linus, Rerun) are the only ones with last names; Schroeder, Peppermint Patty, Marcia, Franklin, Pigpen (and even the vanished Shermy) never exactly had last names, so far as I can discern from the Peanuts website.

The passing of Bob “Gilligan” Denver.

FOX’s new show, “Prison Break” continues to be a weird ride of a television show. And, actor Wentworth Miller is still a cutie. 😉 Oh, and his character is insane; one must really love one’s brother to be getting himself in such a stupid situation.

Interesting documentary on PBS’ “POV” – “The Hobart Shakespeareans” – wherein Los Angeles public school kids, of Hobart Elementary School, get into Shakespeare, which would inspire them in life and education. Feels like a great idea – if only every public school kid gets such a chance, or gets to have such an impressive teacher.

A beautiful Labor Day Monday in NYC.

John Grisham, lawyer-former Mississippi state legislator-novelist, is donating money to help his state.

Slate’s Jack Shafer did a nice job of making his list of complaints about the tv journalists’ coverage. I’d agree with a huge chunk of them (although, I have nothing to say about the FOX News coverage, since I don’t have FOX News and I otherwise avoid local FOX’s coverage as much as I can).

The sudden news of John Roberts’ appointment as Chief Justice. MSNBC posted the Associated Press article on this story. I’m withholding judgment on this; all I can say is that I’m surprised by the sudden development, or at least, surprised that the rumors of the president’s picking Roberts came true. One wonders what on earth is next.

Enjoy what’s left of this long weekend…

I edited my Saturday post, since there was a weird error on my reference to Slate’s Jack Shafer’s column on the race and class issues. Feel free to see the corrected post.

I do think that among the bright spots in the aftermath of Hurrican Katrina is the spirit of generosity of universities welcoming students of Tulane and other Gulf region schools. Seeing it on the local news, that such local schools as Rutgers and even my undergraduate alma mater are helping out the local students who would have attended the Gulf region school this semester, made the reminder that maybe we local folks have our own regional tragedy in mind, considering how close we are to the anniversary of 9/11. Alma Mater put it best in its press release:

We in New York City know deeply and personally how difficult and painful a disaster of this magnitude is for the individuals and families experiencing it. As we reach out to help those affected by Katrina, we will do so in the same spirit of generosity and compassion that the nation showed New Yorkers following the September 11th terrorist attacks.

And, it also really got to me, for some reason, when through Law.com, I saw how this blogger is helping out the law schools of New Orleans. Then I read the generosity of spirit of these law school deans to invite the stranded students. The law field isn’t without its heart, it’s nice to see, to help those starting their careers stay on track in such dire times.

The local news report that NYPD police and MTA buses are being sent down to New Orleans to help. (well, the buses are apparently taking the cops down and then would help transport any other trapped New Orleanians).

Last, but not least, the sudden news: the passing of Chief Justice William Rehnquist. While we have long known that he was ill, it was sudden and, that it happened during sad times, makes things sadder. I may not have agreed with Ch.J. Rehnquist about some decisions or opinions, but I will acknowledge his passing and his place in history.

There’s this saying, “May we live in interesting times,” that has been attributed to the Chinese. Indeed we do live in interesting times.

The coverage on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina continues. On Wednesday night (being the news junkie and lacking any other tv alternative), I watched both the NBC Dateline and ABC News coverage.

Brian Williams anchored the Dateline edition – he carried it off well, looking tanned (he has been in the sun all day, obviously, toiling for the stories for coverage) and professional, in the Tom Brokaw tradition of Good Middle American in the Middle of an American Story. I don’t mean to downplay it, but it just felt a little awkward for me, as if the stories were a little too well crafted.

ABC had Elizabeth Vargas in front of a damaged inn in Mississippi. She did a nice job seguing between the taped portions (where ABC got personal, putting in the perspectives of Cokie Roberts and Robin Roberts, whose roots are in the Gulf coast; ABC especially put in a portion of Robin Roberts drove down through Mississippi on Tuesday to check on conditions and to check her family – it was touching to see the human side of Robin Roberts, as she broke down when Charles Gibson asked if she got through to her family) and the live portions (Vargas checking in on Chris Bury, sweating among the masses at New Orleans Superdome to get on buses for Houston’s Astrodome, the refugee location – why didn’t NBC get this scene in?). Ted Koppell on Nightline also did a nice job getting some insights on New Orleans from his panel (Cokie Roberts, Winton Marsalis, among others).

I don’t know – I’ve always been a bit partial to the ABC News presentations. They seem to capture the whole big picture better, as well as the human stories. Maybe it’s a continuation of the Peter Jennings professionalism?

I haven’t caught enough of CBS News’ coverage to comment, beyond what I saw on Sunday night and Monday morning – John Roberts taking over for Dan Rather? (wasn’t Dan the one who got almost swept away by Hurricane Andrew?).

Well, there’s just a lot of reporters converging on the human tragedy – it feels almost exploitive, but then is it just because this is the age we live in – we’re just going to have to live with the media madness? Or, without this coverage, would we know how to help our fellow humans, or at least better understand human nature (or Mother Nature for that matter)?

Some other stuff for observation:

Wednesday’s Village Voice did an article on hot dogs. I liked the PBS documentary on hot dogs, and this article reminded me of it, even with its NYC outlook.

And, Village Voice also did an article on the empowered NYC Asian and Middle Eastern voters. Jarrett Murphy reports, among other things:

The black-white-Hispanic-obsessed lingo aside, mayoral candidates in 2005 are hunting votes in neighborhoods where the signs might be in Arabic, Urdu, and Cantonese. “I think all the candidates are paying more attention to the Asian American vote—the existing Asian American vote as well as the fast-growing numbers of Asian American voters,” says City Councilman John Liu of Queens, where 50 percent of the city’s Asians live, composing 18 percent of the borough’s people.

Umm, wait, Mr. Murphy – there’s no such thing as signs in Cantonese. Cantonese’s written language is Chinese… Anyway, he further writes on the increasing recognition of the Asian voter:

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s campaign, meanwhile, boasts the backing of the Chinese-language Sing Tao newspaper, which the mayor’s campaign calls “the first-ever such endorsement in the paper’s 40-year history.” Bloomberg 2005 also has set up Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Bloomberg, a group headlined by a Korean from Long Island, an Indian American businessman from Queens, and a Pakistani dentist from Staten Island.

Ethnic labels are crude by definition: You’re black whether you just flew in from Senegal or are descended from slaves shipped to U.S. shores centuries ago. Latinos include light-skinned Cubans and Indian-blooded families from Ecuador. But the categories make some sense if common concerns affect the people they cover. And while Asian and Middle Eastern New Yorkers care about failing schools, high rent, rats, and all the usual urban woes, they also worry about things that other groups needn’t fear.

“There are lots of issues that Asian Americans share,” said Liu, “one being the immigrant experience, being relatively recent immigrant arrivals. And Asians also suffer from a perpetual- foreigner syndrome, meaning that you could be a fourth- or fifth-generation Asian American but still somehow it’s difficult to believe that you’re an American. I get that: First they compliment me on my ability to speak English, and often I get asked, ‘Well, where are you from?’ and for some reason people refuse to take Flushing for an answer.” [….]

Yeah, I love it when complete strangers walk up to me and complement me on my English, and ask me where I’m from (“no, really, where?”) or even the lovely “Are you Chinese?” (well, yes, but does it matter to you, pal?, especially when you too appear to be Chinese and seem a bit annoying for asking the question)… No, I mean, really, isn’t my Brooklyn accent a little on the obvious side as to where I’m from?

Ok, all kidding aside, I liked that this article got the important points from Councilman Liu and Assemblyman Jimmy Meng that the Asian voter population of NYC is itself diverse – ranging from difference in opinions on what important issues and class and even immigration status (more recent immigrants would have different priorities than more established ones; Asians in Flushing might have different concerns than those in Manhattan Chinatown or even in Brooklyn), such that a NYC politician of 2005 really needs to be savvy. Hmm. Food for thought.

Hmm – with the upcoming Congressional hearing on Judge John Roberts, one wonders what kind of questions will be asked of him and hope it’ll be done and over with a modicum of dignity and interest (and to end the whole speculating thing the media does so well). Bruce Reed, “The Has Been” on Slate (he’s a former Clintonite, and thus a “has been”), proposes the open-question tactic (see the 8/30/05 post in Reed’s blog):

At most, Senators have had a few weeks to prepare for Roberts. Roberts has spent 25 years preparing for them. So on all the obvious questions, Roberts has an overwhelming advantage.

But on screwball questions, that advantage disappears. The model for this line of questioning comes from the late Peter Jennings. In a televised debate during the 2004 primaries, Jennings asked John Edwards to “tell us what you know about the practice of Islam.” A thousand debate preps and murder boards could never have prepared Edwards for that question. It made for great television because neither the viewers at home nor the press corps had any idea what he would say, or even what he should say.

Under the circumstances, Edwards handled it well, admitting that “I would never claim to be an expert on Islam.” Roberts is famed for both erudition and modesty. Make him choose: Is there any topic on which he would say he’d “never claim to be an expert”?

Sure, no one prepares for the “Tell me what you know” question… (except I think Roberts might have something handy in his arsenal).

These pictures of the Gulf coast (New Orleans/Biloxi/etc) – they look so sad. “Devastation” is the word oft repeated. Best wishes out there.