EXCLUSIVE Glamorous doctor whose heartwarming act after girl's plunge from Disney cruise has deepened the mystery over dad who jumped in
The woman was Alyssa Charles, the ship's South African lead physician who comforted the traumatized girl as she checked her for injuries.
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The Guardian
16 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘You know it when you see it': experts size up scientists' attempt to define cool
It has puzzled philosophers, scholars and those aspiring to be cool for generations: what is it that makes someone cool? Now it appears that the alchemical code has finally been cracked. There are six specific attributes needed to be cool, according to a study published this week by the American Psychological Association. It found that cool people are generally perceived to be extroverted, hedonistic, powerful, adventurous, open and autonomous, according to the survey of 6,000 participants from 12 countries including the USA, Australia and South Africa. So what does a cool person make of it? Chris Black, the co-host of the podcast How Long Gone (which is cool) and the founder of Done to Death Projects, a brand consultancy with fashion clients including Stüssy (also very cool), says that while the traits are 'relatively accurate' for him, cool is something that cannot be easily outlined. 'The je ne sais quoi of the whole thing has always been what I associate with cool,' he says. Does Black like being described as cool? 'It's become a pretty general word. I don't think it has the sort of gravitas that it once had. There are things I don't embody that I think make people cool. So it's tough to think of yourself as it, no matter how much you want it.' Philippa Snow, a writer and cultural critic whose latest book, It's Terrible the Things I Have to Do to Be Me, explores female celebrities and the price of femininity, says trying to define cool is similar to defining charisma. 'Like the famous quote about pornography, it's tempting to say about both that you know it when you see it.' Some suggest that sprezzatura, an Italian word first used about by Baldassare Castiglione in 1528 and defined as 'a certain nonchalance, to conceal all art and make what one does or say appear to be without effort' captures the earliest essence of what cool is. Cool as a characterisation originated from 1940s jazz culture, when the black musician Lester Young challenged racial norms by refusing to smile when performing. He also used fashion as a marker of defiance, wearing sunglasses indoors on stage. Not long after he coined the slang term 'that's cool', his fans began to use it when referencing him. Prof Joel Dinerstein, who has taught a course called The History of Cool at Tulane University, Louisiana, for more than 25 years, says the terms he associates with cool people are 'rebellious' and 'charismatic', flagging that another key quality is self-authorisation. For Black, whose line of work is based around finding cool people to partner with brands, someone 'being comfortable with who they are and what they say' is his 'real baseline for coolness'. His criteria also includes someone 'being very, very good at what they do', saying it 'shows a level of dedication and self-respect that I think is deeply cool'. While Pierre Bourdieu's 1970s concept of cultural capital is not directly a theory on coolness, cultural and social assets both play into the notion of cool. Nowadays, social media means being cool is often less about a person and more about an aesthetic that can be carefully curated. Unlike a person, however, as soon as an item becomes mainstream, it is generally no longer deemed cool. See Labubus and Stanley cups. Conversely, Brat – the cultural phenomenon unleashed by Charli xcx a full year ago – is still considered cool. At Glastonbury, she did something that typically a cool person would never do – describing herself as cool. 'Thank you so much, you're fucking cool as fuck. But not as cool as me, bitch!' she shouted as she wrapped up her set. Each year, Dinerstein asks his students who they perceive as cool. This year's answers spanned everyone from the composer Hans Zimmer to the singer Lenny Kravitz. Snow suggests Rihanna would be considered cool by many millennials. 'There's something so delightfully don't-care about her becoming one of the biggest musical performers in the world, and then choosing not to give us another album for over a decade. Making us wait and still commanding our attention with not only her other projects but her image itself is powerful and cool, in an almost S&M-adjacent fashion.' Black says youth will always be cool. 'That has fucked us in some ways because we all think we should be at our peak at 23, but as you age you realise it usually takes people to their 50s to work out what they actually like.' And perhaps, there lies a key point overlooked by researchers. Youths. Speaking to two gen Z-ers, they reveal the word 'cool' as an adjective is becoming defunct in their lexicon. In its place? 'Sick' and 'lowkey'. ChatGPT Pretending not to be 'on the pen' (using weight loss jabs) when you are Cowboy boots Labubus Using corporate jargon outside work. For example, posting holiday photos on Instagram with the caption 'highlights from Q1' Talking about sleep scores Giant adult sippy cups LinkedIn Birkin bags Including your Myers-Briggs Type Indicator result in your dating bio Being a member of a library Good service – anywhere The Row's monthly Spotify playlists Asking questions Restaurants where you don't have to shout at each another to be heard Curaprox's colourful toothbrushes Ordering an object to view at the V&A East Storehouse Not being a TV snob Using lamps rather than the 'big light' in a room Being OK with ageing
Daily Mail
20 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Our wine expert reveals her pick of the best South African summer wines
Daily Mail journalists select and curate the products that feature on our site. If you make a purchase via links on this page we will earn commission - learn more This week we're in sunny South Africa, with a charming set of summer wines that punch well above their price. Top South African winemakers and leading brands are collaborating with UK supermarkets more and more. The result is that we get to enjoy the craft, innovation and character of outstanding bottles from the region for a fraction of the cost. Here are my favourite sips, among them a stellar vintage blanc de blancs fizz.
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Telegraph
‘Props are quite weird people': Inside the Lions' secret society
If the first rule of Prop Club is that you do not talk about Prop Club then Pierre Schoeman may have revoked his membership of the most exclusive and secret societies within the Lions squad. Historically, the beauty of a Lions tour is that it breaks down all national and provincial groupings. Some barriers, however, can never be overcome. Props, as the wildly engaging Schoeman articulates, are a breed apart, physically and psychologically from all others. 'I think looseheads all around the world are very similar,' Schoeman said. 'They are quite weird people. Something isn't right. We always say that playing rugby you must have a screw loose but playing rugby as a loosehead prop… I won't even get into the tighthead props. Looseheads like going to dark places, physically, mentally, spiritually. But tightheads can go even darker sometimes.' And so the six props – looseheads Schoeman, Ellis Genge, Andrew Porter and tightheads Tadhg Furlong, Will Stuart and Finlay Bealham – naturally band together whether walking down the street together or by night, they sneak into each other's hotel rooms without the other players' knowledge. 'We actually have a prop group that none of our other team members are allowed on,' Schoeman said. 'We are like bison, migrating together. We have a secret meeting every night, Finlay Bealham started it and now all the props have bought in. We stick together and have a tea after every training session and we get to meet each other's families and ask deep questions. But it is just for props in our group in whatever hotel we live in.' To be clear, it is props only. Hookers do not qualify and Luke Cowan-Dickie was nonplussed to discover its existence on Friday. 'They [the rest of the squad] don't know about it,' Schoeman said. 'But our secret is out now.' It is not always harmonious within the prop camp, particularly if they are rooming with Schoeman. 'I room with Ellis at the moment,' Schoeman. 'If I snore too much he gets grumpy, then I snore more.' Competition in training is also ferocious with Schoeman calling the props 'gladiators'. In which case what role does John Fogarty, the scrum coach, play? 'He has the key for the cage to unlock the gladiators,' Schoeman said. 'That's probably the best way to describe him.' The point of prop club is not necessarily to exclude the wingers and fly-halves but to build bonds among themselves by opening up to each other. Porter, for instance, discusses the challenges of being away from his six-week-old son while Genge has filled in Schoeman on the charms of his native Knowle West in Bristol. 'I know a lot of things about Gengey. I sat through phone calls, I know all his business friends, family everything,' Schoeman said. 'I have asked him to phone my family as well.' Those bonds extend through the generations of the Lions props. South Africa-born Schoeman, who qualifies for Scotland on residency, is fully aware of the outsized influence props have exerted in Lions history. That extends back to the role that the late Tom Smith and Paul Wallace's heroics in the 1997 series against the Springboks to Ian 'Mighty Mouse' McLauchlan, a star of the 1971 and 1974 tours, who passed away on the day of the Lions' opening match against Argentina on June 20. 'Tom Smith is close to my heart because he has played for Scotland as well and I have sat on the same seat as him at Murrayfield which I have been honoured and blessed with, but it is not about me,' Schoeman said. 'It is an amazing question and we do deep dive on it [history], sometimes Si [Easterby] our defensive coach before training or matches will take us through some of the key figures to create that aura. We speak about it, just a word, we have to be present in them and we have to deliver physically and mentally in that moment. 'That's what the jersey demands of us as loosehead props, like Mighty Mouse –- his family watch all our games – and that's the legacy of it. Our families will hopefully live a long and abundant life but it's much bigger than just that, it is much bigger than just that, so give it your all. That means fully submerge in everything in your tour.' After an encouraging performance up front in the 28-24 defeat by Argentina, the Lions scrum has been on the wrong end of the penalty count in the past two warm-up games against Western Force and Queensland Reds. On Saturday, Schoeman will aim to put the Lions on the front foot alongside Bealham against the Waratahs. This will be no easy task as Australia have released the 'Tongan Thor' Taniela Tupou specifically to play in this match. At his best, Tupou is one of the most destructive scrummagers in the world and Lions head coach Andy Farrell says that 'he's got a point to prove' on Saturday. With the games now coming thick and fast, the pressure is also on Schoeman's considerable shoulders to put the fear factor back into the Lions' scrum. 'We have massive respect for [Tupou],' Schoeman said. 'I played him for a few years in Super Rugby, when I played for the Bulls. It was a few years ago, RG Snyman was playing with me at the Bulls. I think we got the win. Since then he has been a powerhouse, played against him for Australia a few times, so have the other boys in the Lions squad. Respect to him. 'You have to be resilient [with the schedule]. They obviously chose the squad for their super strengths. But as Faz mentioned, as a Lion you put a smile on your face and there's no excuses. You have to deliver. Fans, travel, media, friends… anything goes. You have to deliver. You have to be sharp in training. You have to be on your game but also enjoy it.'
