It looks like we’re not getting off Gilligan’s Island so fast. Yesterday’s notes on Mary Ann led us down an interesting path. Did you know that the seven characters on the Island represent the Seven Deadly Sins? That’s not just some silly theory — it was confirmed by the show’s creator, Sherwood Schwartz. Gilligan himself was Sloth. The “know-it-all” Professor was Pride. The Skipper was Gluttony. Mr. Howell was Covetousness/Greed. Ginger was Lust. Mary Ann was Envy (of Ginger). The only one that seems a bit weak to me was Mrs. Howell as Anger.
Other analysts also have Gilligan as Satan, presiding over the Island/Hell. It was noted he’s always wearing red. Hmmmmmmmm.
“In fact, what seemed to be a perfectly disarming, if somewhat frustrating, situation comedy was a representation of a Sartre-like nether-world in which the characters represent the Seven Deadly Sins, and are forced to live in unceasing torment with each other.”
I’m not sure about the “unceasing torment” part, but I like the “Sartre-like nether world.”
Many in the cast came to identify with their roles throughout their later careers, but some pretty big stars almost landed the roles in the first place. Carroll O’Connor almost snared the role of the Skipper; Jayne Mansfield was almost Ginger, and Raquel Welch Mary Ann. Jerry Van Dyke (for Gilligan) and Dabney Coleman almost made the cut too.
After three seasons (98 episodes), the show was abruptly canceled and so there was no closure. We never learn if they were rescued or what became of them within the original series. (Sequels were produced later.)
Here’s Jayne, heading out for a ride with Phil. Hope he’s not driving! Phil — give someone else the keys!
Gosh, it seems like just yesterday, but it was actually back on this date in 1431 that Joan of Arc was killed. She was only 19.
Over 20,000 books were written about her, one by Mark Twain. This was in the Writer’s Almanac today:
“Mark Twain spent 12 years researching her life and wrote a book called Personal Recollections of Joan of Arc, published in 1896. It’s a fictional account and purports to be written by Joan’s personal secretary. It’s mostly devoid of humor. He genuinely admired Joan of Arc, and wrote an earnest book about her.
Twain later said, “I like Joan of Arc best of all my books; and it is the best; I know it perfectly well.”
Here’s Leelee Sobieski who played Joan in one of the movies about her. Yikes, she was gorgeous!
A question was posed yesterday by a member of the Dull Men’s Club, UK Chapter, to which I proudly belong. It was noted that a 50-lb bag of “horse” oats (that you would use to feed your horse) costs much less (on a per-pound basis) than oats like Quaker Oats that you would buy for yourself. The question was, is there any reason not to eat the horse oats — aren’t oats just oats?
One response simply said “Neigh.” Others were worried that the horse oats might contain “impurities” like rat feces that would be more carefully removed in the processing of human oats. Others noted the processing would be different in that the husk would be kept on for horses making it hard for human digestive systems to handle them. They might give you “the runs,” prompting the question — if a horse has stomach problems, does he have “the trots?”
Bottom line: I’m not inclined to eat horse oats.
Bill Walton passed away at age 71 this week. What a wonderful man. Here are 3,000 words worth of pictures of Bill and Mrs. Bill (Lori Matsuoka): young, older, and crazy.
They were married for over 30 years, but it was with his first wife Susie Guth that he had all four of his children, all sons, and all successful in sports and/or business.
Walton stayed very close with his coach at UCLA John Wooden. Wooden did not approve of Walton’s lefty politics but bailed him out of jail when he was arrested protesting.
Walton was an insane Grateful Dead fan. At his very first Dead concert he was invited to sit onstage because he was so big he was blocking people’s view. He befriended the band and attended over 850 concerts, including traveling with them to Egypt for its 1978 performance (joining the band on drums), and appeared at a Dead & Company concert as Father Time as the clock struck midnight on New Year’s Eve in 2019. He wrote the liner notes for two of their albums. He described Dead concerts as “a gathering of the tribe in celebration,” adding, “It’s what I live for.”
After Walton joined the Celtics before the 1985-86 season, Larry Bird organized a team outing to a Dead show in Worcester, Mass., as part of “welcoming the new guy.” In 2001, Walton was inducted into The Grateful Dead Hall of Honor, and referred to it as “his highest honor.”
Rest in peace, Bill.
At 8D today the clue was “One way to prepare crepes,” and the answer was SUZETTE. Commenter jae reminded us of this Dylan verse:
The waitress he was handsome
He wore a powder blue cape
I ordered some suzette, I said
“Could you please make that crepe”
(Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream)
How ’bout those Gnats? While the Mets implode, the Gnats have taken two out of three from the Braves in Atlanta, losing only to the brilliant Max Fried, our boychik. They are clawing their way back up to .500, but face a surprisingly strong Cleveland club this weekend. Good stuff!
Thanks for stopping by! See you tomorrow.
The Wellington Files 