Saturday 9: Ballad of Gilligan's Island (1964)
Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.
1) This is about the fateful cruise of the S.S. Minnow. If you had a boat, what would you christen it?
A. The Melpomene. (That's the Greek Muse of Tragedy.)
2) "No phone! No lights! No motorcar! Not a single luxury!" To Sam, those sound more like everyday essentials than luxuries. If you were shipwrecked with the gang, what standard amenity would you miss the most?
A. Electricity.
3) The uncharted isle was in the Pacific, near Hawaii. Have you ever been to our 50th state?
A. No, I have not.
4) Natalie Schafer, who played Mrs. Howell, refused to divulge her age. Are you honest about how old you are? Or do you fudge it?
A. I have earned every day of my 53 years. Why would I lie about it?
5) Gilligan's Island featured many dream sequences. (Like the one where Gilligan dozes off and dreams that he's Jack from Jack and the Beanstalk.) Have you had any vivid dreams lately?
A. My dreams generally are vivid, but are more night terror than dream. I wake myself (and my unfortunate husband) up frequently with screams, cries, and an occasional bout of sleepwalking. Looking back at my journal, the last dream I recorded, which was on 10/1/16 even though I know I've dreamed since then, just not written about it, said this:
"I dreamed that all of the states in the US were fighting one another, and we (Virginia) were at war with West Virginia, and I was on the pacifist side, trying to stop the war with philosophy teachers and other professors and educated people who didn't believe in fighting or what was going on. Very strange."
6) The pilot was filmed in November, 1963, in Honolulu. The cast and crew were actually onset when they learned of President Kennedy's assassination.* Because on location filming was so expensive, they couldn't afford to take any time off. Tell us about a time when you had to work, even though your heart and head weren't in it.
A. Nationally that would have been Wednesday, only I don't have a job anymore so I took the time to pull the covers over my head and eat too much chocolate. Prior to that, my answer would have been during my mother's illness and death.
7) During the show's run, Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) was the clear fan favorite, receiving twice as many love letters as Ginger (Tina Louise). Have you ever written a fan letter (or posted a fan tweet or Facebook post)?
A. I have autographed pictures of Charlie Sheen (when he was young and before he went crazy) and Bonnie Raitt. I follow a lot of famous people on Facebook - writers, singers - and sometimes I may respond to something, but not often. I also have an entire shelf of autographed books.
8) Sam chose this week's song because it was going through her head, over and over again! Tell us a song that burrows into your head and stays there.
A. That varies, and at the moment nothing is stuck there. It is very dark and depressing in the interior. (I think Sam has been watching too much METV.)
9) Random question: You went to a discount store and got an amazing bargain -- a pair of dress shoes for just $4.99. You go to a formal event and someone compliments you on those great shoes and asks where you got them. Do you tell the truth?
A. I don't know. It would depend on the person offering the compliment, I think. If it were my best friend, sure. If it were someone I hardly knew, I would offer something vague, like, "I bought them at a shop in Roanoke."
*That's why, in the credits for the black and white seasons, the flags are at half-staff when The Minnow leaves the harbor.
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Yes, Wednesday was a tough day. Very few people made it into the office. But we've got to keep going, don't we?
ReplyDeleteI'm very sorry to hear that everyone had such a hard time with Wednesday. I'm hoping and praying we can all move forward in a more positive manner than this past year and begin to heal the divide in our country.
ReplyDeleteI was very fortunate that an Internet friend and her husband had come to San Francisco and I offered to give them the grand tour. I managed to make it all the way through Wednesdsy without thinking about anything. It helped a lot. And since I have no idea their political leanings, we never discussed the election at all.
ReplyDeleteI have a whole shelf of autographed books too, but they're all by the same author, d\David Gerrold, who is a friend. I sat him down one night with a stack of books and a pen and told him to autograph them.
Wednesday where I volunteer was like I was at a wake.
ReplyDeleteI know people who are still in mourning over Wednesday. So much went wrong. Here we go again.... :)
ReplyDeleteI don't usually remember my dreams, either.
ReplyDeleteWe are now "under the rule of lesser men". But this is not over.
ReplyDeleteYes, Sam, we have to keep moving, and make this a real democracy, for the children. They deserve to live in one!
It started in 2013 and will pluck up momentum. It can't be stopped by goons or fraud, and thirty states have passed binding laws that electors must vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote. I want my children and yours to live in a REAL Democrocy.