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Cynthia Gorney and Stephen Harrigan

the breakfast table
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from: Stephen Harrigan

The Greatness of Teletubbies

Posted Wednesday, July 21, 1999, at 1:32 PM ET

Dear Cynthia,

The old Y chromosome has yielded no insights into why mysterious strangers would want to steal your Toyota insignia. Have you checked to see if your air bags are missing? There was an article in the paper recently about air bags being the most valuable component of stolen cars. What you need to do, after the vandals take the handles, is come down to Texas and win yourself a little pickup. Yes, there are women in Hands on a Hard Body--half the participants, if I recall correctly. The rules are that you have to keep at least one hand on the truck at all times, and there are bathroom breaks every hour. The big problem is lack of sleep. I think the winner in the movie triumphed after something like 84 hours.

Speaking of Harry Potter and children's books, isn't there a childrens' bookstore somewhere in the Bay Area where the entire room of Goodnight Moon is reproduced in three dimensions? I read about that years ago and thought it would be a truly freaky and wonderful place to bring a child. To me, the haunted grogginess of Goodnight Moon is one of the great benchmarks of American literature. And while I'm at it, let me just put in a word here for Teletubbies, which I had never seen until recently and whose true worth has probably been terminally distorted by the recent Tinky Winky-is-gay controversy. But this is an awesome show--full of mysterious precognitive longueurs and an empty, gently swelling landscape presided over by a gurgling sun baby. This show is so exquisitely slow it makes Mr. Rogers seem like he's ramped up on crystal meth.

Time for my nap,
Steve

the breakfast table
entries
12345678910111213141516
from: Stephen Harrigan

The Greatness of Teletubbies

Posted Wednesday, July 21, 1999, at 1:32 PM ET
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Cynthia Gorney, a reporter for the Washington Post from 1975 to 1991, will join the faculty at U.C. Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism this fall. She is the author of Articles of Faith: A Frontline History of the Abortion Wars (click here to buy the book). Stephen Harrigan is an occasional columnist for Slate, as well as a screenwriter and novelist. His recent books include Water and Light: A Diver's Journey to a Coral Reef (click here to buy the book).
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