The Quibber: About that candle …
Hi Friends,
As the poet says, real life is for March. So here’s a brand new episode of The Quibbler to help get you over the finish line of winter. Hopefully you already noticed it popping up in your podcast app like the first spring crocuses. Fun fact: When Alex first moved to New York City from the desert, he literally thought someone planted those little buddies. We’re eagerly awaiting their arrival in Brooklyn.
In case you missed it, our completely inexcusable and incomprehensible mix-up of Cate Blanchett and Gwyneth Paltrow in Episode 89 set off a chain reaction that led to us reviewing The Candle on Instagram. Quibbler listener Natasha was kind and/or demented enough to send us Goop’s most infamous creation (although it has stiff competition).
Spoiler alert: it mostly smells like … flowers? Although, apparently the ambiguity is the point, according to Douglas Little, creator of the “This Smells Like My Vagina” candle. Here he is in New York magazine:
Well, that’s something the press has really jumped on — this idea that the scent is the fragrance of Gwyneth’s vagina. That’s not the case. It’s called “This Smells Like My Vagina” meaning the person that’s holding it. It’s speculative and fun… When you smell it, it’s got a very sexy vibe, but that question is barbed. I think if you asked 50 women to describe vaginal scent you would get a lot of different answers — some coming from social stigma and what they’ve been told.
All of which is to say, this is now a thing that lives in our house and that we burn pretty much every day because, we’re not going to lie, whatever it smells like, it smells pretty good. A rose (vagina?) by any other name, etc. etc. Anyway, thanks Natasha! This is definitely still a newsletter about Harry Potter.
Mischief Managed,
Alex & Heather
Latest episodes: Ep. 90—Chekhov’s Erumpent Horn and Ep. 89—Deer is Headlights.
Currently reading (besides Harry Potter): The Seas by Samantha Hunt (Heather) and Stalingrad by Vasily Grossman (Alex).
We also endorse: We finally saw Parasite and, although it feels pointless to say at this point, it lives up to the hype. If you want to go deep on Bong Joon-ho’s masterpiece, this is a thought-provoking read from Tropics of Meta.
Easter eggs: We do not endorse Family Guy, but Heather may or may not have accidentally referenced this bit. So we gave it a Harry Potter spin in Episode 90.
Also of note…
What Voldemort is reading. “How to murder Harry Potter.” Via The Atlantic.
We can’t believe we didn’t pitch this first. I Went to Hogwarts for Seven Years and Did Not Learn Math or Spelling, and Now I Can’t Get a Job. Via The New Yorker
The man, the legend. An interview with Harry Potter audiobook narrator Jim Dale. Via Literary Hub.
Those of great ambition. Warner Bros. Studio Tours in London just launched “A Celebration of Slytherin” because reactionary authoritarians aren’t being celebrated enough in 2020.
Dunder Magic. Gizmodo U.K. reports The Jim Henson Company is making an “Office Meets Harry Potter” fantasy comedy series. This ought to appeal to everyone who wanted more scenes of Harry struggling with unread memos in Cursed Child.
And finally, owl news. “Owls, falcons topic of meeting” breaks every rule of good headline writing we learned at the Arizona Daily Wildcat, but to be honest, we’d go to that meeting. A rescue owl in Suffolk, England, who ate too many mice had to go on a diet because she was too chonky to fly (mood). A milky eagle owlet just hatched at the Dallas Zoo. And, incontrovertible proof there is still good in this world, this owl and this dog ARE BEST FRIENDS. We don't deserve owls or dogs.