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Times
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Times
Shakespeare signature shows his London was as bureaucratic as ours
You might have seen his plays, read his sonnets, visited Stratford-upon-Avon or the Globe theatre and paid all manner of homage to William Shakespeare, but you will never get closer to the man himself than this. On the bottom of an old property deed usually stored in the stacks of the London Archives is one of only six surviving examples of the Bard's signature, which is about to be shown in public. The rare document — part of Shakespeare in London, opening on June 30 — will be on display alongside other artefacts that illustrate the capital at the time of the playwright and the impact he had on other writers down the years, including the poet John Keats. 'It's been really exciting to pull this together — the material doesn't get displayed that often,' said Sharon Tuff, the collections and engagement manager at the London Archives. 'We want to show Shakespeare's impact, but also life in London in his times.' Compared with a modern equivalent, the property deed looks very grand and is written in flowing hand on a large piece of parchment. It details a property in Blackfriars, within walking distance of the Globe and Blackfriars theatres, which Shakespeare appears to have bought as an investment with some associates. At the bottom, above an attached seal, is Shakespeare's signature, written in 1613, three years before his death. The 'William' is clear to read though the 'Shakespeare' is rather squished, suggesting that he, like many of us, was familiar with trying to squeeze a name into a small box on a form. The location of the house he purchased is not clear; it was close to Puddle Wharf, or what is now St Andrew's Hill, but the building would have been destroyed in the Great Fire of London in 1666. • Hereford letter hints at new twist in drama of Shakespeare's wife The archives, which belong to the City of London Corporation, are displaying other items to flesh out the capital's Shakespeare connections. Most striking is the Civitas Londinum, a 1560s map; the archives's version is one of only three extant copies. It shows a capital at turns both strange and recognisable to us today. The city of the map is enveloped by the old London Wall, beyond which lie fields. To the west, buildings creep down 'Fleate Streate' towards Westminster. To a modern eye, names like 'More Gate' and 'Holburne' read like a Tube map in need of proofreading. Some landmarks are recognisable, albeit in a very different form. 'Charing Crosse' stands in the middle of a roundabout, while St Paul's Cathedral is there in its pre-Great Fire form, without its spire. London Bridge, meanwhile, is packed with buildings. Other places of note on the map have faded from prominence or vanished altogether. Christchurch Greyfriars survives only as a ruin of the Blitz today, but the original church dominated the 16th-century landscape. South of the river there were arenas near where the modern-day Globe now stands, used for the baiting of bears and bulls. • Meet Shakespeare the Shoreditch hipster, as his astonishing lost theatre is unveiled That may well have been the world Shakespeare knew, but his impact on the capital only grew down the centuries. The display also includes a facsimile of his First Folio owned and annotated by John Keats. The copy is filled with the poet's marginalia and underlining. He was particularly interested in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Henry IV Part 1, Troilus and Cressida, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear. Some of his notes are lengthy, and the plays even inspired him to jot down the odd verse on some blank paper. Yet Shakespeare's signature is the box-office draw for this display, which will run until September. Tuff says it is a 'relatable' document, showing Shakespeare engaging with the bureaucracy we know well even today. • Unearthed book proves Shakespeare 'cribbed from Dante' The clerk who drew up the document had a less-than-perfectionist approach, which we may also find familiar. For instance, a large section of the parchment has been simply crossed out. 'He made a mistake,' Tuff said. 'He isn't going to rewrite it all. He's just scored it through.'
Yahoo
28-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion: Health Canada should thank business for great smoking news
By Ian Irvine In Ode to a Nightingale, John Keats described how 'but to think is to be full of sorrow/And leaden-eyed despairs.' Such pervasive, perpetual gloominess sounds exactly like Canadian health officials contemplating the latest statistics on smoking, which are in fact spectacularly good news. Smoking has not yet been fully extinguished, but millions or smokers have quit and switched to lower-risk products. Yet 'woe is us!' groan the officials. To be precise, Statistics Canada surveys indicate that between 2017 and 2022 the smoking rate fell by just over four percentage points of the population while the vaping rate increased by three. About a million Canadians changed their nicotine status in a mere four years. Daily smoking among teens is now less than one per cent. That is not a typo: yes, less than one per cent. In all likelihood, the number of smokers is down another couple of hundred thousand since 2022, which means smokers now out-number vapers by less than two to one — and falling. Let's raise our glass to that, if the alcohol ascetics will permit. This rapid and unprecedented decline in smoking has brought no joy to anti-nicotine purists. Ottawa's medium-term goal is at most a five per cent smoking rate by 2035, but self-styled health groups want to obliterate all nicotine use, not just cigarettes, regardless of the relative harm associated with each product. Until nicotine is banished the purists will continue in 'leaden-eyed despair.' Driven by these interests, Ottawa and the provincial capitals have done their utmost to prevent the substitution of low-risk nicotine products for cigarettes. Primarily, it is the private sector that continues the fight for consumer and citizen sovereignty. A handful of e-juice producers and importers and a thousand-plus vape shops, most run by small entrepreneurs, have given the Canadian public what it wanted: nicotine in a non-lethal, non-combusted format. This sector of the economy is responsible for one of the great improvements in health in the modern era. The decline in smoking brought about in the past few years should reduce tobacco-related deaths by several thousand persons per year down the road. Even Big Tobacco has come to the party, with vapes, heated tobacco products and pouches. JUUL, a true innovator in the vape space, foundered on stupidity. But VUSE, STLTH and VEEV vapes are available in gas stations and convenience stores, giving smokers an alternative. The leading heat-not-burn product, IQOS, is enjoying major success worldwide. In several European cities it accounts for a third of the nicotine market, and in Japan its introduction coincided with a decline in cigarette sales of about 50 per cent over an eight-year period. Oral nicotine pouches are also on the market now, the most well-known being Zonnic — a tobaccoless product made from synthetic nicotine and vegetable matter. Unfortunately, it was launched ham-handedly: its ads showed young adults having a fun time on nicotine, which gave the federal health minister at the time all he needed to consign pouches to pharmacies. Our lowest toxin nicotine product is now the hardest to access. Thank your federal government for that. In response to the hugely positive downward trend of tobacco use, the Brahmins in Ottawa have decreed that under the Tobacco and Vaping Products Act implementation a vendor can be prosecuted for telling a buyer what the U.K.'s Royal College of Physicians has said for a decade: that vapes carry about five per cent of the risk of combustibles. They have also decreed that buyers may purchase only low-nicotine vapes and that low-risk products must be in plain packaging and out of sight lest smokers see them. At the same time, just about every medical group in Canada continues to wage war on the greatest quitting device ever invented. The provinces are no better. Most disfavour reduced-harm products, some avidly so. The most strident are British Columbia and Quebec, whose restrictions run to volumes. Of course, these two provinces also have the highest rate of alcohol-use in Canada. The oenophiles in Quebec City and West Van elect governments that are high on alcohol, but low on harm reduction from tobacco. The contradiction isn't a mystery. Smoking is a lower-class thing for the stressed, the mentally ill and others who seldom are members of wine-tasting groups in Outremont. William Watson: The throne speech should be short, sweet and backward-looking Opinion: The embassy murders — some stakeholders are more equal than others So let us celebrate the private sector. It has stepped up and continues to fight on difficult terrain, while governments and the privileged slouch only grudgingly and reluctantly to a new and better reality. Ian Irvine, an economics professor at Concordia University, has worked as a consultant to both the private sector and the federal government on alcohol and tobacco. Some of his recent research has been funded by Global Action to End Smoking. 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Time Business News
26-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Business News
Time Travel: Why Is It Ideal for the Escapist In You?
There are mainly three traits that every individual possesses- The optimistic trait, which makes us think and see the positive around us. The pessimistic trait, which makes us think and see the negative around us. The excapist trait, which makes us feel the urge to cut everything and everyone off, and travel somewhere unknown. A place where there's nothing besides serenity. Sadly, in this age of fierce competition, you often hesitate to let the escapist take the center stage. However, it's utterly necessary for you to listen to your escapist self! That's because the daily dose of monotony can wear off your mental well-being, and escapism is the best way to revitalize your senses. Now, what if we tell you that time travel might be the ideal way to feed your hunger for escapism? Because the escapist in you longs for some surreal experience. And therefore, using time travel spells is actually a great way to satisfy your craving that no earthly journey can provide you! Let's take a closer look. John Keats, in his Ode to a Nightingale, has beautifully described the concept of escapism through the verses. Here, too, you'll witness how the poet explains how the Nightingale's song transports him to a make-believe world, where he forgets about all his life's sufferings. However, at the same time, he also realizes that he is rooted in reality, and therefore, feels an extreme agony at not being able to fully immerse himself in his imaginative world. But that's just the finest instance of literature! Practically, the only way to escape might be to go on a long holiday to some deserted place to find yourself. Now, just think about traveling through time to an unknown world somewhere in the past! Doesn't it sound like the best place to escape and rewind? Well, through genuine spells to travel back in time, you can make it possible! And honestly, it is one of the best ways to soothe the escapist inside you! Why? Because escapism, in its true essence, is traveling to a make-believe world! When you traverse through timelines, you're actually living the make-believe world in reality. That's one of the best things that you can present to yourself to forget the monotony and pain of earthly practicalities! Not just that, but escapism is all about gaining a whole new experience. And what can be a better experience than using a go back in time spell, and witnessing how things were in the past, right? We understand that it's 2025, and frankly, it's a little hard to believe when you see the context of magic spells around! However, to tell you the truth, spells do work. You just have to know the right way. So, to help you out, here are a few steps that can guide you to achieving your dreams- The first and foremost thing that you need to do is to find a genuine spell caster who can help you. Reputed organizations like Jessica Black's Spell Collections have an exclusive collection of real light magic spells that work wonders to help you traverse through time! The second and most important thing for you to do is to believe in the process! Incantations serve as a connection to the supernatural world. And for them to work, you have to put your trust in it. So, trust the process and keep an optimistic mindset. That's the only way you'll witness the true powers of magic if you buy time travel spells online. While optimism and pessimism are necessary to help you navigate reality, escapism is the way you recharge and revitalize yourself and your senses. And no matter what you do, escapism is the element that helps you maintain your mental equilibrium. So, if you want to feed the escapist inside, and are looking for a change your life spell, make sure to try time travel spells once in your life! The moment you experience the make-believe world in real life is the moment you'll feel a profound sense of serenity enveloping your senses, and the thing that you've merely dreamt of will become a tangible reality! TIME BUSINESS NEWS
Wall Street Journal
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Wall Street Journal
Jerusalem and Athens Meet in Manhattan
New York Is truth truly beauty, and beauty really truth? And is that all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know? This was under discussion on a January morning on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The moderator was Chana Ruderman, a former university seminar instructor, and the spirited participants, wearing crisp uniforms, were 11- and 12-year-olds, approaching John Keats's immortal lines with the enthusiasm their peers usually reserve for Spider-Man or Juan Soto. Creative ideas were welcomed but textual proof was demanded to back up each statement. The students dived back into the 'Ode on a Grecian Urn,' shouting with glee when they discovered lines that supported their theses. As the pace grew quicker, they exhibited something you rarely experience in middle school: joy. This was simply another morning at Emet, the country's first Jewish classical-education preparatory school, more than halfway through its inaugural year. Walk its halls and you will see portraits of Churchill, Plato and Maimonides, urging students to plant one foot firmly in Western civilization and the other in Jewish tradition. Although it has been operating for only a few months, the school has become a sensation, holding public events with luminaries like writer Douglas Murray. It is attracting applications from hundreds of parents, including some who never thought they would send their child to a Jewish school, let alone one that teaches Latin and requires students to attend recitals at Carnegie Hall to develop an appreciation for Paganini. Which is all the more remarkable considering the school wasn't supposed to be running yet. Working under the aegis of Tikvah, a Jewish cultural and education organization, Eric Cohen, who leads the group, and Abe Unger, a former college professor and now Emet's head of school, wanted to take their time. The classical-education model, which emphasizes canonical texts and traditions of Western civilization and which is enjoying a resurgence among Christians, is heavy on Greek and Roman culture. How, then, to infuse it with Judaism, a tradition whose values sometimes contradict those of the Hellenized world? They were grappling with the question when Oct. 7, 2023, happened. Many parents, shocked to see Hamas sympathizers plant themselves on college campuses and in city streets, urged the school to open as soon as possible. More than 500 families expressed interest and, after rigorous aptitude tests, 40 students in the fifth, sixth and ninth grades were chosen. That number is already slated to double next year. They didn't have to wait long to figure out what kind of environment their school would foster. Each day starts with two student marshals holding two flags, America's and Israel's, while reciting the Pledge of Allegiance. As they file out of assembly, they must pause, look Mr. Unger in the eye and shake his hand. That, he says, is where the educational transformation begins. 'Suddenly, they feel like citizens,' he tells me in his office. 'Reciting the Pledge and holding the flag and shaking the principal's hand are all civic acts. They are acts of coming together in a kind of small-r republican community.' If there's one thing that can devastate even the most dedicated community it's the abundance of screens, which is why Emet doesn't permit them. Rather than iPads or Chromebooks, the students carry textbooks, as well as notebooks, index cards, pencils and pens. When they write, it's in cursive, another classical skill prized at Emet. All this pleases Brigette Roberts, who pulled her 10-year-old daughter from a competitive private school last year to give Emet a shot. The school's emphasis on discipline, she says, has helped her daughter thrive. 'I definitely see a change in her. Suddenly, she's asking us to buy a lot of different books she'd like to read—and she's constantly asking us questions about everything from architecture to physics.' Ms. Roberts says her daughter is 'thinking more, questioning more. It's clear that she loves to learn.' Mr. Unger adds that these tensions—between joy and discipline, Jewish tradition and Western civilization—make Emet's students engage with their work. 'We teach them that it's OK to live with contradicting views on any given topic,' he says. 'That is what's fun. They study these traditions, and then they look at them on their own terms, asking, 'What can I say about that? How can I forward the conversation and the human prospect?' ' For Jews living with a rising tide of antisemitism, such agility and resourcefulness are key. Yet holding conflicting values in conversation doesn't mean accepting that all is true and everything is permitted. 'The quest for truth lies at the very heart of Western civilization, and we abandon it at our great peril,' Mr. Cohen tells me. 'The moral teachings and miraculous survival of the Jews remind the world that the deepest truths endure, that hope is never lost and that the renewal of civilization is always possible.' Indeed, in one Jewish prep school in Manhattan, renewal happens every day. Mr. Leibovitz is editor at large of Tablet magazine and author, most recently, of 'How the Talmud Can Change Your Life: Surprisingly Modern Advice From a Very Old Book.'
Telegraph
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Rome's oldest cafe saved from closure
The Italian government has swooped in to save Rome's oldest cafe – once a haunt of the poets Lord Byron and John Keats – from imminent closure. The Antico Caffe Greco opened near the Spanish Steps in the heart of the Italian capital in 1760. Artists, intellectuals and writers including Mark Twain and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe gathered there to share their ideas and it was a must-see on the Grand Tour for privileged Europeans in the 18th and 19th centuries. But the historic building – now a tourist attraction flanked by designer stores – has been fighting for its survival in recent years as the building's owner, the Israelite Hospital, wants to redevelop it. A high court decision approving the cafe's closure appeared to seal its fate, but the ministry of culture intervened at the eleventh hour on Thursday, declaring the cafe's walls to be of 'cultural interest' and saying both the furniture and furnishings were 'immovable'. Alessandro Giuli, the culture minister, told The Telegraph on Friday the cafe is a 'historic jewel' and his ministry would act as 'a moderator' to seek a solution between the parties to guarantee its survival. 'The importance of Cafe Greco cannot be ignored,' he said. The lease expired in September 2017, when the cafe's management said the owners wanted to raise the rent to match those being paid by the surrounding luxury stores in Rome's premier shopping street. Lawyers for the Israelite Hospital were unavailable for comment on Friday but Italian media reports said it claimed to be losing a million euros a year because the rent was below market rate. The cafe has weathered 250 years of turbulent history including war, political upheaval and cultural renaissance. Casanova, the notorious Venetian playboy, once visited, as did the legendary American showman William Frederick Cody, better known as 'Buffalo Bill', who sipped a coffee there with a posse of cowboys in 1890. Famous for its plush 'red room', the cafe boasts 300 works of art, as well as marble tables, velvet chairs, art deco lamps and gilt mirrors. The Italian capital's tourism site describes it as 'an emblem of international Rome' and a place where 'the most brilliant minds have found inspiration'.
