Disappointing

It seems that Brunching Shuttlecocks is going dark--that is, there will be no new examples of its gentle, geeky satire. (Apparently the old material will stay up indefinitely.)

I've long been a casual fan of the Shuttlecocks--especially the ratings of arbitrary collections of things like breakfast cereals, facial hair, and labors of Hercules. The ratings were always esoteric, always well reasoned. Apparently they will live on at bookofratings.com.

Adieu, kind shuttlecocks. May your last brunch be your sweetest.

Jerome Corn

Hey, look who's in the New York Times today.

We are family

"[I was] surprised when I suddenly found myself having these feelings for a woman that I always had for men, but for a woman--wanting to touch her and kiss her."

--Angelina Jolie, quoted in Us Weekly, July 28, 2003, p43

More fun with TV theme songs

TV 93 (93.1 MHz on your FM band) is playing all TV theme songs, all the time. And of course this puts your correspondent, an incorrigible pop-culture obsessive, in his element.

I have a few observations:

Disco was huge in TV theme songs of the late 70s! "Wonder Woman" and "Dallas" particularly come to mind.

In the mid-80s, a sort of adult-contemporary, DX7-y, warmed-over-Boz-Scaggs motif came to prominence, especially in sitcom theme songs. "Family Ties," I believe, pioneered the format (smooth jazz sound, super banal lyrics), but I'd argue that Al Jarreau's "Moonlighting" theme ("Some walk by night, some fly by day") perfected it.

So many of the instrumental themes from shows of, I'd guess, the 50s and 60s aren't familiar to me, but I'd likewise say that there are any number of Gen-Y'ers who wouldn't be able--as I just did, in a blissed-out moment--to identify the instrumental theme of "Mork and Mindy."

I love the "Soap" theme--another great 70s instrumental. Dig the Fender Rhodes.

God bless Flatt and Scruggs, whose "Beverly Hillbillies" theme is playing right now. Sometimes I wish Lester Flatt were my uncle.

The "Eight is Enough" theme--another disco classic--features this imponderable: "We spend our days like bright and shiny new dimes."

Near, far, wherever you are

An article in today's New York Times got me to wondering about what it would be like to travel to the United Kingdom on the Queen Elizabeth 2.

It turns out you can sail from NYC to Southampton for as little as $1,799 or as much as $23,149.

The voyage takes six days.

I've been mildly curious about the QE2 ever since I learned that poor Stanley Kubrick, terrified of flying, travelled from England to Hollywood only when he had to, and only crossed the Atlantic by sea.

In the QE2's fascinating itinerary I discover that you can't make the U.S.-U.K. connection at all during the winter months. I guess that makes sense.

Interestingly, or whatever, the QE2's first Atlantic crossing this year sailed from Southampton on April 17. The Titanic sailed on April 10.

You do the math.

Anyone who knows me knows I love the natural foods movement, especially as typified by the Willy St. Co-op and its sexy employees.

But I also enjoy some affectionate, good-natured chiding. The movement is, after all, as susceptible to contradiction as most other aspects of late capitalism.

And who affectionately chides better than Roz Chast?

You nostalgia freaks

Specifically, you Madison nostalgia freaks:

The radio station 93.1 appears to be in some kind of testing mode and is playing only TV theme songs. This is fantastic.

"Daniel Boone was a man."