January 20, 2016

Email received from Harper's Magazine after I tore page 35.

Dear Subscriber,

Please use care when removing the envelope attached to page 35 of the February issue. The releasable glue has proved stronger than expected and may tear the paper.

The full text of Tanya Gold's article, "The Queen and I," is available for free here.

We regret the error.

-Harper's Magazin
e
ADDED: I figured out independently that I needed to "use care" and I did use care. It was, in my experience, impossible not to tear the page. Thanks for hitting me over the head with the obsolescence of dead-tree media. I'm forced to go on line to read the article.

20 comments:

Triangle Man said...

I'm interested to learn that Harper's is still in print. My subscription lapsed around the time Lewis Lapham lied about being at the GOP Convention, but not because of that.

CatherineM said...

Thanks for sharing the article, although I didn't like her tone. Someone who thinks she is clever writing metaphor after metaphor.

In, "The Queen," Mirren is sad about the beautiful stag because it suffered after being poorly shot (by a rich American,of course) rather than immediate death.

Perhaps the writer should ask herself how a very modern socialized Denmark has a popular monarchy without the class system? The British press used to make fun of those royals who bicycle their children to school, but I think that's the model Charles will go for as King.

Left Bank of the Charles said...

"There is something pathetic about a fiercely vacuumed throne room."

MadisonMan said...

The British press used to make fun of those royals who bicycle their children to school, but I think that's the model Charles will go for as King.

Charles is way too old to cycle. (He really always has been).

Will Charles be the oldest monarch to ascend to the British Throne? My recollection is that Victoria's uncle currently holds that honor.

(goes to look)

Ah. Charles has passed William.

Expat(ish) said...

Funny, I was thinking that this was *excellent* customer service. The problem was not on par with, say VW's recent issues, but it's a great effort.

-XC

Gahrie said...

Will Charles be the oldest monarch to ascend to the British Throne?

I keep hoping he will die before his mum, or that Parliament will have the sense to bypass him in favor of his son.

Prince Charles is barmy.

CatherineM said...

Here is a very good special on the Queen Mum produced around her 100th birthday. I had been watching historic specials on life downstairs in service at a real Downton when this was suggested. http://youtu.be/NSoddUu1Djk

I enjoyed the previously unseen interviews such as the Queen Mum in 1977 showing pictures she had taken of Buckingham Palace during WW2 as well as ordinary people who met her during that time. Also some staged newsreel showing Princess Elizabeth listening to 40's music on the radio while writing letters when "unexpectedly" the King and Queen walk in, and surprised Elizabeth turns off the radio. There is also and Edward R. Murrow interview from 1956 with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. The Duke gives a carefully recited response to Murrow's question of regrets.

CatherineM said...

I have been hearing how Charles is "barmy," since the 80s, but he was way ahead of the curve on a lot of things like organic food that everyone sees as normal now.

I don't think Wiliam wishes that he is the next monarch with a young family never mind that his father would die soon. It's better to be the Prince of Wales than the King, better to be the Duke of Cambridge rather than the Prince of Wales. More freedom to live more normally as a family, less pressure.

Bob Ellison said...

You were not "forced". You were inveigled.

CatherineM said...

Madison Man, I didn't mean Charles would bicycle, but that he would pare down the monarchy. For example, make only the grandchildren of the eldest child of the monarch royal. Sort of the way Prince Edward did with his children. Other changes like that to trim things. He has already made sure that Beatrice and Eugenie (entitled to the title of Princess under current rules) don't have a role as say, the grandchildren of George V (Dukes of Kent & Gloucester, Prince Michael and Princess Alexandra of Kent) have had to serve. Times are different with less disease, better medicine and air travel means the world is smaller (no more 6-12 month tours of the former Emoire via ship). No need for so many royals.

rehajm said...

What was the envelope for? Was it "business reply" like all those damn cards they stuff in magazines?

When you drop those in the mail without filling them in it's like mercy killing.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Email received from Harper's Magazine after I tore page 35.

Wow, that's creepy! I wonder what technology they're using to track that sort of thing.

Did you try tearing any other pages to see if it would happen again?

Fernandinande said...

"In 1968, a scientist at 3M in the United States, Dr. Spencer Silver, was attempting to develop a super-strong adhesive. Instead he accidentally created a "low-tack", reusable, pressure-sensitive adhesive.[1][2][3] For five years, Silver promoted his "solution without a problem" within 3M both informally and through seminars but failed to gain acceptance. In 1974 a colleague who had attended one of his seminars, Art Fry, came up with the idea of using the adhesive to anchor his bookmark in his hymnbook.[4][5] Fry then utilized 3M's officially sanctioned "permitted bootlegging" policy to develop the idea.[5] The original notes' yellow color was chosen by accident, as the lab next-door to the Post-it team had only yellow scrap paper to use.[6]"

Ann Althouse said...

"What was the envelope for? Was it "business reply" like all those damn cards they stuff in magazines?"

It was an offer from the Wall Street Journal to subscribe.

Gahrie said...

I have been hearing how Charles is "barmy," since the 80s, but he was way ahead of the curve on a lot of things like organic food that everyone sees as normal now.

Not everyone.

Darrell said...

Prince Chuckles is as mad as a hatter.

Sam L. said...

Forced, you say? Only if you care enough about the article, which it seems you ought not.

mikee said...

"Forced," or "Tricked," to go online by a magazine that wants more digital subscribers?

This is marketing genius!

Dave in Tucson said...

> I'm forced to go on line to read the article.

First world problems. (Also, you could've just skipped the whole thing. There are always choices.)

Nichevo said...

Also, Scotch tape.