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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.

P and I drove up to the Rockefeller estate on Saturday. P and been talking about doing it all summer, and the opportunity to do it came. It is not as grandiose as the Newport mansions, but sitting on 84 acres and having an incredible collection of large scale sculptures and tapestries on the grounds that rivals the Museum of Modern Art (actually, the Rockefellers founded MoMA), it cannot help but be grand. From the main house there are underground tunnels to a “grotto”, which no doubt inspired Bob Kane and company. Recommended.

There has been much controversy the last few days about Barbara Bush’s comments on the Katrina victims in Houston. It is just rude to offer hospitality and then take on an aristocratic air. But that’s what happens when we’re fighting a war on two fronts, in Iraq and at the Gulf Coast. In both cases we’ve rushed in with inadequate forces, and now we’re literally throwing money to opportunistic corporations in cohoots with the Administration that is”conveniently” the only ones that are available to provide the supplies and equipment necessary to rebuild. Enough already.

The awful truth that the Bush family matron alludes to is that a lot of these poor people won’t be going back. Like the survivors of the Asian tsunami, the blighted land that they were on is likely to be condemned by the government and given to real estate developers. Sounds familiar?

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.

That’s Coldplay frontman Chris Martin running back to the stage during “In My Place” at their concert Tuesday. Man, that guy is fit. After doing his usual jig for two hours with his Coldplay cohorts, he ran the entire length of Madision Square Garden (an entire basketball court), sang two more stanzas, and then ran back to the stage. We won seats in the fanclub lottery, so we had these awesome floor seats along the left aisle. He was no more than one foot away when he made his dash!

They weren’t too preachy this time around, but let the sound and the fury do the work for them. On first blush, it was the ultimate crowd-pleasing singalong audience participation event for the 15,000 person sellout crowd — “Yellow” brought the crowd’s falsetto in unison and bobbing up and down hitting yellow beach balloons popping with confetti. On the next level, Coldplay sought to be more U2 than U2, with trademark ringing electric guitar, pounding piano playing, and effective use of the behind-the-stage widescreen Jumbotron to replicate an iPod commercial. At the deepest, unconscious level, Coldplay almost seems to have spent the last ten years writing prescient songs for today’s events. The first theme of water (including “Clocks”, “Swallowed in the Sea” and “Politik”) touched upon the Gulf Coast disaster. The country cycle (“Til Kingdom Come”, “Ring of Fire”, “Green Eyes”) paid tribute to the late Johnny Cash, fatalism, and the folk influence. The songs of the third theme of response (“Yellow”, “In My Place”, “Fix You”) are our calls to action.

Tears stream down on your face
I promise you I will learn from my mistakes
Tears stream down your face
And I–

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try to fix you.

On many levels, and that I could share it with P-, this concert impressed me greatly.

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.