Thurston Owl the Third

Thurston Owl the Third / oil on black canvas / 5x7 / $68 includes shipping!

YES, MY CULTURAL LEXICON includes "Gilligan's Island"! In fact, though I can barely remember what I did yesterday, or what I am supposed to do tomorrow, I can sing you the entire theme song of "Gilligan's Island." 

I would also more or less brag that I could tell you stories of the episodes, but first off, that would be a lie, and second, it would be more or less meaningless, since, as far as I recall, each episode went pretty much this way: One of the marooned people figures out a way to get off the island, Gilligan flubs up the plan, and they remain marooned. 

I've heard people my age (and even myself!) look at the current youth culture and rue the fact that today's teens and 20-somethings will one day run the world. I can bet that my parents looked at my brother and me being entranced with "Gilligan's Island" and had similar misgivings. 

***

For Today

The Ballad of Gilligan's Isle

Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale

A tale of a fateful trip

That started from this tropic port

Aboard this tiny ship. 

The mate was a mighty sailor man

The skipper brave and sure

Five passengers set sail that day

On a three-hour tour

A three-hour tour

The weather started getting rough

The tiny ship was tossed

If not for the courage of the fearless crew

The Minnow would be lost

The Minnow would be lost

The ship set ground on the shore of this

Uncharted desert isle

With Gilligan, the Skipper, too

The millionaire, and his wife

A movie star,

The professor and Mary Ann

Here on Gilligan's Isle

That's all I remember! Or at least, that's all I thought I remembered, but "no phone, no lights, no motor car/Not a single luxury" did resonate. So the same tune recurred with new words on the closing credits. Here's how that part goes: 

Now, this is a tale of our castaways

They're here for a long, long time

They'll have to make the best of things

It's an uphill climb

The first mate and his Skipper, too

Will do their very best

To make the others comfortable

In their tropic island nest

No phone, no lights, no motor car

Not a single luxury,

Like Robinson Crusoe

It's primitive as can be

So join us here each week my friends,

You're sure to get a smile

From seven stranded castaways

Here on Gilligan's Isle! 

 - written by Sherwood Schwartz and George Wyle