December 6, 1981

AFTER postponing his vacation all summer so he would be around if President Reagan decided to go ahead with the B-1 bomber, Mike Philbin took his wife and four children to the Bahamas for one exactly one week in October. As luck would have it, that was the week Mr. Philbin had been waiting for. The 47-year-old Mr. Philbin is a vice president at the Eaton Corporation's AIL Division in Deer Park, one of more than 40 Long Island companies that have stakes in the billion-dollar bomber project. When he finally left for the Caribbean, the B-1 project had been on hold for more than four years, ever since President Carter delayed its production and ordered further tests. Then, in the middle of the Philbins' vacation, President Reagan announced that he would ask Congress to authorize production of an updated version of the plane. Where did Mr. Philbin hear the big news? In the cocktail lounge of the hotel.

WASHINGTON FOR a quarter of a century and longer, the elderly have been trying to gain recognition as an entity in American life. They have formed organizations, hired lobbyists, boasted about their numbers and influence, elected friends and defeated enemies, sought and won special treatment from the Government. As was the case for other special interest groups, their progress has been incremental, with few dramatic breakthroughs. Other groups with problems perceived as more pressing have launched more strident appeals. Not surprisingly, then, recognition that the elderly are the fastest-growing segment of the population and among the most politically active has been slow in coming.

Two nights after a 32-point loss to the Washington Bullets, one of the worst teams in the league, the unpredictable Knicks overwhelmed the Boston Celtics, the defending champions and one of the best teams, 103-83, at Madison Square Garden last night. It was the lowest point total for the Celtics this season, and it resulted in their fourth loss in 23 games. Coupled with the Philadelphia 76ers' 114-105 victory over the Nets, it dropped the Celtics into second place in the Atlantic Division. After the loss to Washington, Sonny Werblin, president of the Madison Square Garden Corporation, which owns the Knicks, had criticized the Knick players for a lack of effort. Although the players were divided on whether Werblin's criticisms had had any effect on their play last night, they agreed that their defensive effort against the Celtics had been their finest of the season.

Adozen years ago, he was one of the hottest directors in Hollywood, with such recent triumphs as ''Bonnie and Clyde,'' ''Alice's Restaurant'' and ''Little Big Man'' to his credit. But in the last decade, Arthur Penn has made only two films, neither very successful, and although he has kept busy as a stage director, his name has faded in the minds of many American moviegoers. This month Mr. Penn emerges from what he has come to view as something of a dormant phase with a new film, ''Four Friends,'' the story of Danilo, a young Yugoslav immigrant, three of his high school classmates, and their tangled lives as they struggle through the turbulent 1960's. Originally written by Steven Tesich, who also wrote the screenplay for ''Breaking Away,'' the final version of the story was the result of several months of harmonious collaboration between Mr. Tesich and Mr. Penn. Although the movie focuses on the intertwined paths of one young woman and the three young men who are all in love with her, it also provides a kaleidoscopic view of the 1960's, hurtling rapidly from short-haired teen-agers jitterbugging in bobby socks through glimpses of Mississippi-bound Freedom Riders, angry protesters burning draft cards, raffishly attired hippies cavorting in the streets of New York, and men in spacesuits walking on the moon.

HARTFORD IT was just a year ago last Friday that Connecticut was stunned by the announcement from Gov. Ella T. Grasso that she was resigning, effective Dec. 31, ''by reason of physical disability'' caused by her fight with cancer. Last Thursday, Connecticut residents awoke to the news that the Governor who had succeeded the late Mrs. Grasso - William A. O'Neill - was undergoing heart surgery after being hospitalized since Nov. 20 with what had been described as a mild heart attack. Once again, concerns about the health of a Governor had cast new uncertainties over the political and governmental life of the state. A visitor to the state Capitol might not have noticed any immediate difference. And indeed government business continued without serious interruption. When a Governor is unavailable, the Lieutenant Governor can make executive decisions in consultation with the Governor's staff and relevant state commissioners.