the worst people in the world

.

 Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, arriving for the ceremony in 2012: photo by Monica Almeida/The New York Times

After luncheon the snow stopped, and the afternoon turned out intensely cold but bright and clear. I took a tram up the hill to Monte Carlo. The sound of firing came from the bastion below the promenade where 'Tir aux Pigeons' was advertised. Some kind of match was in progress; the competitors were for the most part South Americans with papal titles. They made very interesting gestures with their elbows as they waited for the little cages to collapse and release their game; they also had interesting gestures of vexation and apology when they missed. But this was rare. The standard of marksmanship was high, and while I was there only three birds, fluttering erratically with plucked tail and wings, escaped the guns to fall to the little boys below, who wait for them on the beach or in rowing-boats and pull them to pieces with their fingers. Often when the cages fell open the birds would sit dazed amid the debris until they were disturbed with a bowl; then they would rise clumsily and be brought down, usually by the first barrel, when they were about ten feet from the ground. On the balcony above the terrace sat one of the Casino pigeons, privileged and robust, watching the destruction without emotion. The only convincing recommendation which I heard of this sport came from one of the visitors at the Bristol who remarked that it was not cricket.

Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966): A Pleasure Cruise, from Labels: A Mediterranean Journey (1929)

Björk, at the Academy Awards in 2001: photo by Reuters

Gibraltar: Charles Pears for the Empire Marketing Board, c. 1930 (National Archives UK)

 

Jennifer Lawrence at the 2013 Academy Awards: photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters