Asking oneself

How would you like to be treated like that? How would you like the teensiest weensiest details of your lives to be known by everyone? How would you like the pressure and the stress of not ever being able to go out the front door without being followed, your every move documented, your every word printed? How would you like your pain to be turned into publicity and your grief into gossip.
But, no, you didn't think about that, did you?

by Toby Litt from Adventures in capitalism

Love me in Latin

David Beckham did not study Latin at Chingford School in Essex. The subject had long been off the state school curriculum by the time he got there in the late 1980s. Still, when it comes to his body art, the footballer is a dedicated Latinist. Of the nine tattoos on his body, three are in Latin (and two of the others, “Victoria” and “Romeo”, are Latin-inspired names).

by Harry Mount from Amo, Amas, Amat…and All That

The pea shrank. What do we do now?

"I saw him literally shrink this six foot bloke down to an inch," he recalls. "Queen had just taken the stage and this bloke shouted to Freddie, "You fucking poof", or something like that. Freddie demanded that the crew turn the spotlight on the crowd and find this fella. He then said to him, "Say that again, darling" and the bloke didn't know what to do. Everybody was laughing."

by Mark Hodkinson from Queen: The early years