Muppets on the brain

I have Muppets on the brain. Watching tennis this morning, all I could think was that with the ginger hair and head that seems narrower than his neck, Andy Murray reminds me of Beaker. ( In reality, not so much, it's just my imagination. )

The family business

On 60 Minutes this evening, there was a piece called Blood Brothers. The subject was Francisco Rivera Ordóñez and his brother Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez, both toreros. Their father and grandfather were famous toreros. Their father, Paquirri, died after being severely gored. Their grandfather Antonio was perhaps the most famous of toreros of the 20th century, a contemporary of Hemingway, perhaps the Michael Phelps of his sport and era.

A couple of years ago I read Death and the Sun, in which a journalist followed Francisco for a season, and wrote about it here. At the time, Cayetano was not yet bullfighting.

The interviews included in the piece were fascinating. The ring is in their blood; they both seemed fatalistic and a bit ambivalent about their careers in the ring at the same time. Francisco is planning for life after the ring, and Cayetano models for Armani. (Check out this Men's Vogue article.) One (or maybe both?) carries a portable altar, which is set up and used before each corrida.

Note: the guy in the gold and blue traje de luces first over the fence when Cayetano falls? His brother, Fran.