The Saturday Miscellany: Damien Hirst vs Tracey Emin; Silvio Berlusconi; Boeing Dreamliner 787

Culture clash: Young British Artists, Damien Hirst vs Tracey Emin

King of the YBAs, Hirst has made a fortune perfecting post-Thatcherite art. Whether mass-producing spot paintings or putting a £50m price tag on a diamond-encrusted skull, the bottom line is never far from the surface. The Goldsmiths alumnus's famed shark in formaldehyde set out the themes of monumentalism and mortality that Hirst Inc has rarely strayed from.

Queen of Margate, Emin didn't study at Goldsmiths like many of her contemporaries, but Maidstone Art College. Noted works include a tent appliqued with the names of former lovers and her infamous unkempt bed from 1998. In recent recent years she's represented Britain at the Venice Biennale and attempted to rejuvenate her home town by helping to open the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate.

The Winner: Tracey Emin

The deleted emails of... Silvio Berlusconi (as read by John Walsh)

From: silviobungabunga @forza.italia

To: massimo@forza.italia

Sent: 30 June 2013

Subject: che ci faccio qui!?

Massi baby, come va? Last night, I was dozing in chair at Casa Bunga, in front of Italia's Got Talente, when doorbell goes. I assume ees Alessandra or Zippa, one of those wicked Puglia Popsies, and answer it. Next, am blindfolded, bundled into car. Now I am locked in bleak room, no TV, no drinks cabinet, niente donna, just a smell of zuppa verdura, sweat and piss. This hulking brute in uniform came in. I ask him if this ees prank by Sexy Lola. Given smack round head and told to sew mailbags. Eet cannot be prison because am awaiting appeal, but worried. Has there been slip-up? Has due legal process been followed by mistake? Please advise. Silv.

PS. Being eyed up by homosexual in next room. Disgusting – but you know me… Any port in storm, eh?

Instant ethics

By Ellen E Jones

Dear Ellen

A date took me to an inappropriate film. Is this a legitimate reason not to see him again?

Yes, if we're talking De Niro-in-Taxi Driver or Rourke-in-Diner inappropriate. If those references mean nothing, you're probably not enough of a cineaste to use this as dating criteria. @msellenejones

Recommended

By Charlie Cooper

Do

McQueens flower school has teamed up with Hertfordshire's Grove Hotel to offer a floristry masterclass in roses, with luxury accommodation included. £199, 26 July, thegrove.co.uk

See

The Barbican is putting events on across the capital this summer. The Paper Architect, a performance art piece with paper craft, is on at Leytonstone Library.

£14, until 21 July, barbican.org.uk

Buy

This 35mm camera, dubbed the Konstruktor, helps you snap your own vintage-style photos. But there's a catch – you have to assemble it yourself.

£29, Lomography.com

Indy Index

300 passengers took to the skies last Friday aboard the first British-owned Boeing Dreamliner 787, dubbed the future of flying. The Independent

It will burn 20 per cent less fuel than any aircraft its size, while promising increased legroom, quicker flight times, and a quieter take-off.

However, it’s development has been beset by problems, running three years behind schedule and $8bn over budget. Flights.co.uk

The first commercial flight in 1914 was a 22-minute trip from St Petersburg to Tampa in Florida – with space for just one person, who paid $400 under auction for the privilege of being the first passenger historynet.com

Another single-passenger flight took place on July 2, 1982, when ‘Lawn chair Larry’ tied 45 weather balloons to a patio chair and sailed 13,000 ft into the air, delaying flights at nearby LAX. USA Today, Snopes.com

The worst European airline for delays is Monarch, 9.7 per cent of whose flights are over an hour late Flightontime.info                                                                                         

An airport wait isn’t always a bad thing. In 2010, a man won $10.4m on a slot machine at the Reno-Tahoe airport. ABC 7 Denver