Ramblin' with Roger

While he had worked on a number of shows before, Mr. Schwartz first became known broadly for Gilligan’s Island a 1964-1967 program that may have been terrible – I almost never watch it in reruns – but which, like many folks at the time, used to view religiously. Its cultural impact has never entirely subsided. Not only did Sherwood Schwartz produce Gilligan’s Island, he co-wrote its iconic theme, which, I’ve learned is in ballad meter, “commonly found in ballads, has stanzas of four iambic lines. The first and third typically have four-stresses; the second and fourth have three-stresses and usually rhyme (Horton, 1995).”

Of course, I’ve provided links for both opening and closing themes (audio and video) for 1964 and 1966. The significance of the theme is reflected in the number of times it has been parodied. Here’s one in the style of N’SYNC. Another is called Dracula’s Isle. And, of course, the king of Gilligan reference, Weird Al Yankovic.

But my favorite was a single that I actually own, a song by Little Roger [!] and the Goosebumps called Stairway to Gilligan’s Island – there’s link to an MP3 of the song there.

I’ve been reading about the disappearance of the TV theme. (Grey’s Anatomy, which USED to have a theme, is a prime example of the lost art.)

While Gilligan was still on, Sherwood Schwartz created It’s About Time, a show about astronauts landing in prehistoric times. It lasted only one season, 1966-1967, yet I remember the lyrics, also by Mr. Schwartz.

Given that, I have to make another confession: NOT ONCE did I ever see a first-run episode of The Brady Bunch, the 1969-1974 program that Sherwood Schwartz produced and for which he co-wrote the theme. I’ve caught it sporadically in syndication.

As much as I watched Gilligan, I never watched any of its goofy-sounding follow-up TV movies – the Harlem Globetrotters? – but I HAVE happened upon some Brady-related reunion fare, though I couldn’t tell you what.

Anyway, happy 90th birthday, Sherwood Schwartz!

You Are 12% Capitalist, 88% Socialist

You see a lot of injustice in the world, and you’d like to see it fixed. As far as you’re concerned, all the wrong people have the power. You’re strongly in favor of the redistribution of wealth – and more protection for the average person.

I THINK I got this from Chris Black, but I could be wrong. I DO see a lot injustice in the world. And until recently, all of the wrong people DID have the power. (And some of them are still around.)

You Are Likely a Second Born

At your darkest moments, you feel inadequate. At work and school. you do best when you’re evaluating. When you love someone, you offer them constructive criticism. In friendship, you tend to give a lot of feedback – positive and negative. Your ideal careers are: accounting, banking, art, carpentry, decorating, teaching, and writing novels. You will leave your mark on the world with art and creative projects.

This is very interesting, actually. I’m a first born, but any number of people who have met me and my sister Leslie together think that she, who is 16 1/2 months younger, is the first born. Also, my parents lost a child a couple years before I was born. In any case, the first four lines are pretty dead on. But I’ll NEVER be a carpenter or decorator.
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And lest, I forget:

Some guy wrote me: “I was thinking about how cool it would be if you did a feature like Gordon highlighting an album a month that you may love (and who knows, only have on vinyl).” At first, I was resistant to the idea; I mean, Gordon already does a fine regular piece. Then I thought, “Maybe it should be “Albums in my vinyl collection that I used to play a lot, but haven’t played in a while,’ which would be quite a mouthful as a title.”

Thus was born “Underplayed Vinyl”. Oh, yeah, I decided the once a month would fall on the birthday of the artist, or at least a member of the group. And maybe I’d look at more than one disc.

First up, Neil Percival Young, who turns 61 today, and his first album, cleverly titled Neil Young. OK, that’s a little cheeky, but after being in a band as contentious as Buffalo Springfield apparently was, maybe an eponymous title was called for.

Confession time: I learned about the existence of this album through Three Dog Night. “The Loner” appears on their first album, the one with “One” on it. I had already purchased Neil’s “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere” and “After the Goldrush”, and quite possibly “Harvest”. I noted the “The Loner” did not appear on any of them, and so I hunted this album down, bought it, and played it.

Was I disappointed.

After hearing the instantly accessible subsequent LPs, I was rather confounded by this moody, low-keyed album. Even “The Loner”, which TDN really rocked, sounded strange. But then repeated listens brought out the stark, fragile beauty of the album. “The Old Laughing Lady”, while possibly done better live a quarter century later, caught my ear, as did the lengthy last tune, “Last Trip to Tulsa”. Then “I’ve Been waiting for You.” Eventually, the whole aural pastiche started making sense to me, and I grew to appreciate this album all the more. Still, it would have fared better in my collection’s playlist had I heard it before albums 2 and 3, and possibly 4.

By 1981, I was used to following Neil wherever his muse took him. Still, I’m not sure what to think when I heard re.ac.tor. It was raw. It was rough. It was intentionally distorted at times. I liked it immediately, especially “Opera Star”. I thought the lyrically minimalist, grunge-inspiring “T-Bone” was especially a hoot. The aural assaults, and his use of synthesizers (horrors!) were tempered by some short sweet tunes.

I started reading the reviews, which, as I recall, were pretty brutal. I began to wonder if maybe my tastes had gone south.

Then I thought, “The heck with it,” and played it all the more, as loudly as possible.
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These are the answers to Lefty’s Friday Three Questions for November 10th, which I attempted to post at 4:30 pm Friday, but couldn’t because of some techno-glitch:

1. I was born in Binghamton, NY, spent my first 18 years there, plus for a few months in 1977. I’ve lived in Albany since 1979, or 27 years. Albany’s more my home, in part because the highway construction has altered Binghamton to where it’s no longer second nature to get to places.

2. Islands: Manhattan, Long, Barbados, probably others.
Grand Canyon: not yet.
The desert: seemingly so, but I’m not remembering specifics.
The two oceans: yes.
Outside N Am? no.

3. I have no idea. The sunset RIGHT now is pretty spectacular.

On Armistice Day
The philharmonic will play
But the songs that we sing
Will be sad
-Paul Simon

Three events from last weekend color my view of this Veterans Day. One is a Friends of the Albany Public Library luncheon commemorating the release of Portrait of War: the U.S. Army’s First Combat Artists and the Doughboys’ Experience in WWI by Peter Krass. What was evident in the book from the author’s presentation is that the U.S. government, which hired eight artists to go to Europe, wanted the war depicted in a certain, heroic, way. (American general Jack Pershing, though, sided with the artists’ desire to be more realistic.) This mindset of war has been around for a very long time. Remember the source of “killing the messenger”, when the leaders would literally have struck down the soldier who would bring bad news from the front. The glorification of Jessica Lynch and Pat Tillman is hardly new.

Another item was a speech by Phyllis Trible at my church who spoke about how stories of domestic violence permeate the Bible. One example was Judges 19, where a man throws out his concubine to save himself, and she ends up being be gang-raped and killed. This reminded me that in so many wars (Darfur comes immediately to mind), there is a different sort of war violence placed on the women. This is done presumably to terrorize. But then what explains things such as American soldiers raping and then killing a teenage girl, and then killing her family?

The third is a sermon I read about Abraham and Isaac. It cites Bob Dylan’s Highway 61, reason enough to mention it, but it’s this quote that got me: “warfare is a form of child sacrifice, where nations offer up their children because, like Abraham, we believe that’s what we’re called to do.”

I suppose my point is that “War IS hell”, should be avoided at almost all costs, for even wars that most people would consider “just”, unintended consequences abound.

Which leads, inevitably, to these questions:

1. What circumstances, if any, would justify a “just war”?
2. What wars would you say were “just”?
3. What can WE do as individuals to stop or prevent war?

For whatever reason, I have found myself involved in a number of search committees over the years. I rather like it, but I always feel responsible to the organization to make sure that I’ve done my due diligence.

Here’s some things I’ve learned over the years:

Be on time, or a few minutes early. If they’re scheduling back-to-back interviews, it’s likely that the latecomer will get the short shrift.

If you go into an interview, they ask you what you know about the organization, and you reply, “Not much”, they’ve already decided to pass on you, even if they talk to you another 30 minutes. Look at the website of the company you’re seeking to work for.

Interviewers really like it when you remember their names. Writing them down is O.K., if your memory is poor in that regard (and they have seven people in the room!)

If they tell you they’re hiring for a particular time frame, and you tell them you’re available in that time frame, and then you decline because you’re really not, you’ll tend to really tick off the interviewers for a good long time.

Don’t be surprised to hear the standard interview questions such as, “What are your strengths and weaknesses?” You might seriously consider at least mentally preparing an answer for that one.

In general, answer the questions you are asked, rather than the one you want to have asked. But don’t go on too long.

Certain foods should be avoided before an interview, foods that can land on one’s clothes or stay in one’s breath.

If you seem bored at the interview, assume your boredom is contagious.

There’s a subtle difference between looking people in the eye and staring them down; one is good, the other, not so much.

Confident is good; cocky – “I’ve already got THIS job sewed up” – is not.

There are lots of places with Job Interview Tips. Consider actually using them.

Only recently had I heard about Performance Based Interviewing. This includes sample questions that are dependent on the level of the job.
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Ed Bradley of “6o Minutes” was cool. No, it’s not because of the earring, or the huge ‘fro he had as a younger reporter.

It was because when the CBS News reporter did certain stories with musicians or other creative people – his piece on Lena Horne was his favorite – you felt the affection he felt for the artist and the respect the artist had for him. Yet he could also do the hard news interviews, such as Timothy McVeigh, with directness and passion. Ed never seemed full of himself, unlike some in the news industry.