The Bluestocking, vol 89: Hapsburgs and gladrags
Hello from Madrid!
To be honest, it's no thanks to British Airways that this newsletter won't only be coming from Madrid in future. On Sunday night, Jonathan had such bad back pain we ended up in A&E, and we ended up missing our flights out on holiday. I called BA to try to delay them by a day but was quoted £570 to change them (no). Anyway, what the customer services people did not tell me, and I did not previously know, is that if you buy a return ticket with BA and miss the outbound part, then your return flights are automatically cancelled.
I only found this out when I tried to check into our flights home on Thursday and was told they didn't exist. Anyway, no one likes a customer service grumble but I figure there might be other people who don't know about this and will appreciate not getting caught out like we did. (What has two thumbs and is the chump that bought new single outbound tickets and then new single inbound tickets, when a return would have been cheaper? THIS GUY.)
Still, at least Madrid was great - proper capital city, with loads of great museums, parks and restaurants. Saw Guernica. Wondered if Guernica would be as impressive if it were tiddly. Saw Las Meninas. Wondered what Velasquez could have achieved as a painter if all his subjects (the Hapsburg dynasty) weren't so plug-ugly. Saw Goya's black paintings. Wish someone could have said "U OK hun" to him before he did the one of Saturn eating his child.
ICYMI: the book (remember that?) now has an official name and release date. You know how people writing books are unbearable and generally behave as if they are the first person ever to do anything vaguely tough in life? Yeah, I have a lot more sympathy for them now.
Helen
Philip IV: Don't marry your cousins, people.
Can Mark Zuckerberg fix Facebook before it ruins democracy?
When Zuckerberg was a junior in high school, he transferred to Phillips Exeter Academy, where he spent most of his time coding, fencing, and studying Latin. Ancient Rome became a lifelong fascination, first because of the language (“It’s very much like coding or math, and so I appreciated that”) and then because of the history. Zuckerberg told me, “You have all these good and bad and complex figures. I think Augustus is one of the most fascinating. Basically, through a really harsh approach, he established two hundred years of world peace.” For non-classics majors: Augustus Caesar, born in 63 B.C., staked his claim to power at the age of eighteen and turned Rome from a republic into an empire by conquering Egypt, northern Spain, and large parts of central Europe. He also eliminated political opponents, banished his daughter for promiscuity, and was suspected of arranging the execution of his grandson.
“What are the trade-offs in that?” Zuckerberg said, growing animated. “On the one hand, world peace is a long-term goal that people talk about today. Two hundred years feels unattainable.” On the other hand, he said, “that didn’t come for free, and he had to do certain things.” In 2012, Zuckerberg and Chan spent their honeymoon in Rome. He later said, “My wife was making fun of me, saying she thought there were three people on the honeymoon: me, her, and Augustus. All the photos were different sculptures of Augustus.” The couple named their second daughter August.
Oh well, I guess it could have been Caligula. This New Yorker profile very clearly demonstrates that we can add Mark Zuckerberg to the list of people who have no idea what Facebook is now, or what its effect on the world might be.
An Oral History of Frasier
Jane Leeves: People don’t realize how generous John was. It wasn’t until his funeral when people spoke from the foundations he supported that you realized what an incredible, giving spirit he had. He didn’t talk about it. He just did it.
Lloyd: We’d have rehearsal at 12:30 and be off the stage by 1:30. I’d always see John, however, walking to his car at 4:30. I finally asked him what he was doing. He said he was responding to fan letters. He had a rule that if anybody wrote to him, he’d write back.
This is so interesting on why Frasier worked as well as did, from the casting to the decision to make some jokes "10 per centers" (that only 10 per cent of the audience would get). You can also just smell the smartness of the people involved, and see the breadth of their cultural references. The description of Martin's initial character as being "from an Arthur Miller play" is perfect - as readers of my piece on his chair will know, his arc is the spine of the show. And Joe Keenan's love of theatrical farces created several of the best episodes. And the note from Grammer, directing David Hyde Pierce in a scene where the kitchen goes up in flames, is perfect: don't play the panic. That leaves space for the audience to do the panicking.
(I knew about Lisa Kudrow reading for Roz. I did not know about Alison Janney. She would have been great.)
Goya upstairs
Goya downstairs
Quick links:
"All the named academics were women." No shit. As Sarah Ditum said earlier, you would be astonished how many people come up to me to thank me for "taking a stand" (expressing my extremely moderate, mild opinions) on current gender orthodoxy. This story suggests why people are frightened to say what they think. But also: a lot of people are hoping to sit this one out because it involves telling "their" side that their demands are excessive (eg when we are told: don't talk about periods as a "women's issue", don't object to rapists being moved to women's prisons, don't ask for research into whether medical transition is being over-promoted to gay teenagers). And probably being smeared as a bigot in the process.
This Jonathan Liew piece is very good on the complexity of the Serena Williams/US Open controversy.
I love how profiles of Phoebe Waller-Bridge never mention that she's sick-makingly tall and gorgeous. Quite a different proposition to burp in front of an interviewer if you're a hairy homunculus of a woman.
Grace Dent on why she doesn't want kids.
Until next time . . .