Castle of Aaaauuuggghhhh! in the house: Monty Python members, at right, from left, Michael Palin, John Cleese and Eric Idle, mugged for the cameras at the Beacon Theater last week during the Tribeca Film Festival. They’re celebrating the 40th anniversary of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”
Poetry of Pier 40: You didn’t think David Gruber, former chairperson of Community Board 2, would just “go gentle into that good night” (to quote Dylan Thomas, and why not?) after recently wrapping up his final term leading the Village board, did you? O.K., so he’s not exactly “rage, rage, raging against the dying of the light,” but he will be chair, chair, chairing a new Pier 40 Working Group that will be involved in trying to get a handle on the mega-project that will soon, no doubt, be taking shape at the St. John’s Center across from the W. Houston St. pier. Joining him on the working group will be a really ragin’ crew, including Rich Caccappolo and Dan Miller, two former presidents of the Greenwich Village Little League, along with Ritu Chattree and Robert Woodworth. Also joining the group “ex officio,” as Gruber put it, will be Tobi Bergman, another former G.V.L.L. president, bringing the total of ex-leaders of the baseball league to three. Some might wonder if that’s a bit of stacked lineup. But, let’s face it — other than local car parkers — no one cares about the massive pier more passionately than the local youth sports leagues.
Rolling with the punches: Speaking of past community board chairpersons, David McWater, who formerly headed C.B. 3 for a good stint, from 2004 to 2008, e-mailed us last week. “I’m managing boxers (5) and am applying for licenses to represent athletes in other sports,” he said. “It has all gone very well, I travel all the time and am having a grand time. I’m a partner with Bob Perl in the former DBA space.” He said he doesn’t miss all the community board politics a bit.
Still missing: We were hearing some rumors from readers that people think Michael Thomas of 61 Jane St. might possibly not really be missing. As reported in our Police Blotter last week, according to police, Thomas, 46, had been officially missing as of Mon., April 20, and had last been seen at the Pennsylvania Hotel that day at 4 p.m. After seeing the Blotter item, at least a couple of Villager readers subsequently poked around 61 Jane St., inquiring of staff there what was up, and there apparently was some speculation and skepticism about Thomas’s whereabouts. So we asked a police spokesperson at the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information about it this week, and he promptly checked it out. “The case is still open and being investigated at this time,” the sergeant reported.
Give peace march a chance: Part of the “East Village Diaspora” that Aron Kay, the Yippie Pie Man, spoke about at the recent East Village fire benefit, John Penley called us from Carolina this week to tell us about the upcoming Vietnam Peace Commemoration in D.C. on Fri., May 1, and Sat., May 2. The group will sit in the New York Presbyterian Church for a conference, then — to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first Vietnam peace march — will ambulate at 5 p.m. on May 2 to the Martin Luther King Memorial. Speakers at the memorial will include Julian Bond, Holly Near and Tom Hayden, among others, while speakers at the conference will also feature Phil Donahue, Leslie Cagan, Congressmember John Conyers, Dan Ellsberg, Amy Goodman, Juan Gonzalez, Peter Yarrow and more.
