Not only does public television rock because it just does ... now it's getting support from The Police in supposedly their last concert ever.
According to Sting's website (and a bunch of other places too),
05.06.08 Mayor Bloomberg and The Police announce contribution to MillionTreesNYC and reveal that their last ever concert will take place in New York City to benefit local public televisions stations...
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg joined Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland of The Police to announce that the band's final concert will be in New York City and their commitment to MillionTreesNYC, the City's initiative to plant one million trees by the year 2017. MillionTreesNYC is a component of PlaNYC, the Mayor's plan to make the City more sustainable and reduce its carbon footprint 30 percent by 2030. The Police pledged $1 million to the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City in support of MillionTreesNYC. This donation, matched by the City, will provide $2 million to help launch the reforestation component of MillionTreesNYC which will plant 10,000 trees and reforest 2,000 acres of parkland across the five boroughs. Reforestation efforts improve air and water quality, reduce greenhouse gases and lower energy costs.
The Police also announced that their final concert ever will be a fundraiser with proceeds benefiting the production of arts programming for Thirteen/WNET and WLIW New York. Tickets will be available nationally online via Thirteen/WNET and WLIW. More details about the benefit show, including venue and ticket information, will be released at a later date.
Since I saw The Police last summer at a concert at MSG and probably won't be able to afford a ticket to the benefit, I'll just have to skip this concert.
I do encourage you to plant a tree and make a donation to a public television station. I've spent many an educational hour on Sesame Street, (back when Snuffy was still invisible to grown-ups), learning to read with Easy Reader before he drove Miss Daisy, in the Neighborhood of Make Believe with Lady Elaine and Mr. Rogers and Meow-Meow Pussy Cat, and more recently in veritable raptures of delight thanks to months of Austen adaptations, and last weekend on the decks of the U.S.S. Nimitz (that one was hours of free on-demand via my cable subscription.)
Thanks to Mr. Bush, I may have some extra money here soon (in the form of a stimulus package check) to thank public television for their hours and hours of quality entertainment. And I can write it off on my taxes next year. What a thought!
How about that Message in a Bottle? Eh?!
