Maturity in Politics

With yesterday's death of California Senator Dianne Feinstein at 90, oddsmakers and pundits are busy handicapping our sclerotic gerontocracy of politicians.

Editorial cartoonist Barry Blitt must be kicking himself for not putting Senator Feinstein in front in her wheelchair in his cover for this week's issue of The New Yorker.

Rain, Rain and More Rain

Tropical Storm Ophelia is walloping New York City, the tri-state area, and New England. 

9.11 from the International Space Station

On September 11, 2001, medical officer Frank Culbertson was orbiting in the International Space Station when he and two Russian crewmates learned about the Al-Qaeda terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in New York City.

Culbertson grabbed a video camera and recorded the smoke plume from the Twin Towers before they collapsed, killing nearly 3,000 people that afternoon.

As reported on nasa.gov:

"For the Expedition 3 crew aboard the space station, like millions of Americans back on Earth, September 11 began as an ordinary day, their 33rd in space. Following a morning of physical exams, Culbertson, who served as the crew's medical officer, began a private medical conference with NASA Flight Surgeon Stephen F. Hart to relay to him the results of the tests. 'Frank, we're not having a very good day down here on Earth.' Dr. Hart went on to explain how two commercial airliners had crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, and a third into the Pentagon outside Washington, DC. As they were tallking, they received word that a fourth airliner had crashed somewhere in Pennsylvania. At first stunned into disbelief by the news, Culbertson quickly realized that the space station, then over central Canada, was about to make a southeasterly pass over Maine, within viewing distance of New York. Culbertson grabbed a video camera and headed for the window facing in the proper direction. A few minutes later, he saw and videotaped a large plume of smoke stretching for dozens of miles from the lower Manhattan site of the World Trade Center. After a few minutes, the space station moved out of range of New York, and the three crewmembers had 90 minutes before its orbit brought it back again over the area. They set up several still and video cameras to record the events as they were still unfolding, unknowingly witnessing the collapse of the second tower as a bloom of smoke."

Jaws Jumps the Shark

It's been nearly 50 years since Steven Speilberg filmed Jaws on Martha's Vineyard in 1974 followed by the release of the blockbuster movie the next summer.

Three sequels followed, many books, and warehouses of merchandise emblazoned with gnashing shark teeth and "You're going to need a bigger boat" warnings.

Now the movie about a great white shark has made it to the Great White Way – where it's billed as a comedy. The Shark Is Broken opened at the Golden Theater in August and plays through November.

Captain Quint, actor Robert Shaw's character in the movie, is performed by Ian Shaw, Robert Shaw's son and the play's author.

Jesse Green, theater critic at The New York Times, writes:

"In the end, 'The Shark Is Broken" isn't interested in argument and interpretation any more than 'Jaws' was. When Dreyfuss says the movie they're making is about the subconcious, and Scheider posits that it's about responsibility, Shaw, as always, wins by proclamation. 'It's about a shark!' he brays."

Orca-stra seats start at $99.

Easy September Day

The north shore of Martha's Vineyard – Lambert's Cove Beach and Upper Makonikey – as painted by local artist Kenneth Vincent.

Labor Day Parade