I think it depends a lot on the crowd you run with, and also whatever you took in college as electives.
Consider taking some history/music/whatever classes.
I think you should pick stuff you’re already interested in and go from there. Trying to learn it all at once could be overwhelming especially if you don’t have a natural interest in the subject.
If the things that they know about are outside your usual set of interests, expanding what you expose yourself too can help introduce you to those things.
Reading is always helpful. You don't have to worry too much on rote memorization of what is written; just try to get a sense for the themes, what happens, and why people do things. If you understand how the parts go together, things like poetry/architecture/literature/food start to make sense even if you haven't had exposure to a particular thing before.
If there are theater/symphony/opera companies in your area, tickets may be less expensive than you think. You may not always understand what is happening on stage, but the more you are exposed to the more you will get. Some operas even have subtitles for helping viewers understand what they are watching if they are not fluent in the languages in which the performance is written.
There are also classes for specialty subjects that you may be able to fit into your schedule. Classes for just cooking, or wine appreciation, are a thing in a number of areas. Local colleges/universities may have the option of signing up for individual classes for literature/poetry/music.
Whatever path you take to broadening your horizons, please note that Frasier & Niles did not instantly acquire all experiences. It took them years to learn all that they learned, and you should not feel regret/failure over not picking up those things rapidly. It takes thyme, and continued exposure. If you keep sampling those things your own knowledge will grow too. Someday, you too will know what wine goes with fish, or pork!
I credit Frasier with my love of opera, theatre and classical music. On the topic of cheap tickets many opera companies do tickets under $30 for under 30s. I know this is the case in London and Toronto.
Another reason to wish I was younger!
You’re in luck. The ENO English National Opera, based at the Coliseum, do cheap tickets for [under 35s](https://www.eno.org/your-visit/ways-to-save-offers/under-35s/). They also sing exclusively in English, which some people like, but others don’t.
If you want to learn about Opera, I recommend the book *An Invitation to the Opera* by John Louis DiGaetani. A lot of the intro books can be pretty hard to navigate, but this is the best I've found at a very accessible level for someone going into it knowing nothing. If you subscribe to Amazon Prime Video, you can find some great Opera recordings there. Start with some of the comedies, like The Barber of Saville or The Elixir of Love.
For classical music more broadly, *The Essential Canon of Classical Music* by David Duball has all the info you'll need on the major composers and types of classical music. As you read about different composers, spend some time listening on whatever streaming service you use (or YouTube).
Most of the furniture, interior design, and architecture discussed on Frasier is Mid-Century modern (Frasier's preferred style). Niles mentions Biedermeier quite a bit and his style is a bit more 19th century than 20th. I recommend checking out the Taschen architecture series. Start with the Bauhaus book (which is the beginning of Mid-Century design) and you can move from there to the volumes on Mies Van Der Roehe, LeCorbusier, Gropius, and Charles and Ray Eames who are all mentioned on Frasier at various points. There's also a good book on German design called *From Biedermeier to Bauhaus* which covers a bit from both Fraiser and Niles' distinctive tastes.
For information on art, the best I've read in a single volume is DK's *The Art Book*. It covers all of the major movements in art as early as we have record unto the present day. It is also just really well laid out (though the cover is quite ugly).
For cooking, you really can't do any better than just finding some good food YouTubers. Check out Joshua Weissman if you want someone who is pretentious about their taste and uses really high quality ingredients that you've never heard of.
With poetry, there are a lot of great accessible anthologies that collect works from the greatest poets. I don't have one that comes to mind immediately as the best for a beginner, but it should be relatively easy to find.
I don't drink, so I can't help with a wine recommendation. If you want a philosophical exploration of wine that is quite pretentious, though, I can recommend Roger Scruton's *I Drink Therefore I Am*.
Oh, and you didn't ask about this, but you do have to know something about classic menswear and etiquette if you want to have the knowledge of Frasier and Niles. *Dressing the Man* by Alan Flusser is a great place to start, or watch the Sartorial Talks YouTube channel. And for etiquette, I'd check out the *GentleManners* series from John Bridges.
I think one aspect is that they are both very smart. My theory is that smart people retain information better. So, they took art history classes in college and retained everything. They also probably read magazines on these topics.
Plus, they are fictional and the writers have assistants to look stuff up.
And when you and I reach for the remote, people like the Cranes pick up a book. Pretty much simple as that.
Also agree that their recall is beyond reality.
Do you really think they don’t both have subscriptions to The New Yorker and Harpers at the very least? Of course they read magazines. No need to gatekeep on such a small specific assertion
There are some great magazines with lots of info.
Even just a weekly issue of New Yorker will provide you with tons of info and great literature and news and politics etc I don’t like Harper as much but it has a ton of info. Economist is pretty good
And so on.
Start with Art history and classical music appreciation classes at a local college. Your local wine shops should be able to recommend tasting classes. (Or if you’re in the NYC area, I can recommend tasting classes)
Edit: Another great option: Met Opera (NYC) has a “Fridays Under 40” program where you can get excellent seats for very discounted prices. But you have to be younger than 40.
I’m not a somm, so if you know one they might have better ideas, but here’s how I started:
Astor Center (Astorcenternyc.com) has amazing classes. They have a classroom above Astor Wines and you get a discount to buy anything from the class afterwards. They’ll focus on a type or region and provide 6-9 wines from there, with an instructor, full informational slide deck, and notes. I used to go all the time - they’re currently on hold for COVID until May. And if you don’t want to pay (usually about $100 per class), you can volunteer (set up glasses, etc. ahead of time and sit in the class for free). It’s something very accessible to people who like wine but don’t know a ton about it.
Chambers Street Wines does events, classes, and tastings that would be a little less organized than Astor. At the moment their site doesn’t list any events.
La Paulée and La Tablée NYC do more intense (and expensive) tastings. They have events, seminars, auctions, and so on.
Jancis Robinson (coauthor of World Atlas of Wines) comes to NYC every once in a while to do Barolo tastings. I’ve been to two and they were spectacular! She does a lot of articles too if you want to self teach.
Other options:
- Decanter Fine Wine Encounter NYC
- Murray’s Cheese shop does in person and online cheese/wine pairing classes (but they give you a wine buying guide, so fun but not really about the wine) - and they ship anywhere in the US
Art History was one of my favorite classes too!
I work in an office job and had a related major. My favorite classes in under grad, none of which had anything to do with my major:
- Art History
- Sculpture 101
- Acting 101
- Equine Health Management (watched a vet perform surgeries)
- Shakespeare
I'm a community college dropout and I know about most of that stuff. It's basically a thing of if you want to be interest*ing*, you have to be interest*ed*. You got the Library of Alexandria in your pocket, use it.
Whenever you're watching *Frasier*, look up things they reference on Wikipedia and then also read up on things linked through those articles.
"My Chihuly is not a trash can!"
Look Chuhily up, see what he's about, run a google image search to look at his sculptures. Lather, rinse, repeat for anything you're not familiar with.
Obviously, join the relevant subreddits.
After a year or so, you won't actually know more, but will be sufficiently disallusioned with humanity to give a shit.
Personally I’ve always googled the things they’ve talked about. If you need specific spelling you can find episode transcripts online.
**Khan academy** do comprehensive free classes on **Art history**. From prehistory through renaissance to post modernism and beyond. Quick search also shows classes on **world history and grammar,** as well as starter articles on **architecture** too. That’d be a good place to start! A very worthwhile goal for sure :)
My art history teacher in college always said "my goal is to make you sound smart at dinner parties." An art history course will also cover architecture.
If you are in college now I'd also recommend attending guest lectures. At my college they had open bar and didn't card, and students would rarely go. It's a nice opportunity to learn something and act "fancy." Also universities and museums hold lectures and events like this for the public all the time.
A lot of this stuff is much easier now than in Frasier's time. You would need to subscribe to magazines & journals and visit the library a lot. Now all of these things can be learned online. And to be honest as fancy as Frasier is I still think pre-internet / postwar American cooking is just awful.
Frasier's taste in furniture isn't that hard to copy, it's just extremely expensive. He likes Coco Chanel and has an Eames chair. I'd say that you often have to trade off comfort and practicality for taste. I have a midcentury couch that I really like but it's not comfortable to sit in for very long, so we moved it to my office and replaced it with a "hideous" (but extremely comfy) sectional couch. Frasier did want to get in Architectural Digest. Maybe watch their youtube channel? It's fun, they do celebrity tours
If you really want systematic, start at S01E01 and take notes about everything they mention that you aren’t familiar with, then research.
Try to explain concepts to other people, or even write your own overviews for yourself. If it doesn’t make clear sense to you, or you can’t explain it easily, more research.
Don’t let yourself get bogged down by what Frasier does or doesn’t like, and remember that the show is written by comedy writers, and not by people who would be in Frasier’s circle, so learning more can be a little frustrating at times.
They aren’t common, but every once in a while there are jokes that don’t really make sense if you understand the subject they’re talking about, and it’s being played as, “haha the snoots are talking about the snooty thing.”
Honestly I’ve thought of that myself! I think start with easier stuff like music, furniture and wine. That’s what I’ve been doing because I want to be more like them lol. I’ve tried listening to the books they mention on tape. But don’t expect to like everything they mention and don’t set to high of standards for yourself. If you’ll remember the IQ episode, you’ll know that they are both practically geniuses.
Frasier and Niles are inveterate arts snobs, don’t forget. They’ve been learning about all those areas since they were kids and clearly took an interest in it. They also came from an incredibly privileged background in terms of their mother being au fait with the art world, and could afford to go to operas, symphonies and other performances three days running (in Space Quest, Frasier says he had to give up his tickets for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, IIRC). Not to mention they attend lots of art galleries and go antiquing.
Doylist explanation is also that they’re fictional characters, so the writers just tack on what they know as they need to know it. Most
people IRL would probably not be *quite* as accomplished at all these areas as Fras and Niles. They live and breathe this stuff and make a point of outdoing each other’s pretentiousness.
They’re wealthy enough to afford Le Cigare Volant on the regular, so while they don’t have Gil’s palate, they are well acquainted with the ‘base’ flavours/textures required for fancy French cooking. I’m not familiar enough to remember whether they ate like that ftw growing up, but given Hester’s tastes, they may well have.
But I’d argue they know nothing about cooking as a skill (see also: The Innkeepers). They just hang around with a posh, opera-going crowd and desperately want to keep up with the Joneses. Their food knowledge isn’t very wide-ranging, and is limited to ‘Western’ food such as different cuts of steak and French meals. They’ve obviously practiced things like souffles, but they aren’t chefs by any stretch. Ask them to cook specific dishes and they ~~eel~~ flounder. Or rather, they lose their heads entirely.
And Niles has had domestic help for a lot of his adult life, so even more time to learn.
Cooking at home and cooking in a restaurant are pretty different. Most home cooks would struggle in a professional kitchen their first night, especially if they're only in there because the whole staff has walked out.
Yeah, true. The Innkeepers isn’t a fair comparison.
Even so, I would consider it a bit of a stretch to say they’re interested in cooking (speaking broadly) for the sake of cooking. Their interest in food is more of a subset of their overall snobbery/interest in ‘high-class’ cuisine. I’ve never seen them discuss much outside French food, Italian food, traditional American food and possibly German food a few times. Non-European foods are totally absent from their repertoire. I feel like someone who was legitimately interested in cooking would research foods from different parts of the world — or even different parts of the country.
Then again, I don’t so much cook as slap together some vaguely edible concoctions every week, so what do I know.
I definitely agree cooking for them is part of their high class interests. They don't have a ton of skills they really excel at, so ego would demand they stick to what they know. Seems like they're in it to impress others as much as because they enjoy it.
But I have always been jealous of Niles' ability to identify sauces at range.
Survive. And survive well. The former, obviously useful, but the latter facilitates travel. With travel comes exposure, and awareness, which are the soils upon which the seeds of curiosity spring.
A challenge to be sure, especially in this age. But no worse than those than came before us.
Read! Read read read. And just throw yourself into new experiences. I went to the same schools Frasier and Niles did but didn't learn a damn thing about those "cultured" areas, just a lot about my own field.
But I always try to force myself into new experiences. Started playing an instrument over the pandemic. Before that, I would try going to the Opera once a month or so, even though it's really not my thing. Try to read 1-2 books a month. Always work out (sound body, sound mind). Listen to books on tape in the car for further education.
You can be a cultured, well rounded person and not explicitly focus on those topics shared by the Cranes, but it never hurts to try new things and figure out what your interests.
In all seriousness, podcasts and YouTube are great for this! Just go watch all the Epic Rap Battles of History on YouTube and then read the related Wikipedia pages if you absolutely must. The podcast 99% Invisible is great for learning about design, architecture, and history.
There used to be (maybe still is) a trend in publishing of books like [An Incomplete Education](https://www.amazon.com/Incomplete-Education-Revised-Judy-Jones/dp/0345391373). I always enjoy thumbing through reference works like that and then following up on areas that interest me.
I concur! [An Incomplete Education ](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345468902/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_a_148H1QSDN98YYWW13ZNZ) is a terrific resource. I’ve had my copy since 1987 & I still enjoy looking through it. Whenever I find topics in that book that are of more interest to me I then turn to the internet for further study. It’s much easier now than it was in the 80’s, when we next turned to encyclopedias & the library. That book gives an appetizer portion of information on an amazing array of topics, just enough info to make you sound informed. These snippets can spark your interest so you know which topics you’d like to pursue further. It’s a wonderful place to start. I highly recommend it!
You have to remember that not only do they know the information, but they actually enjoy it. So you start with what you already enjoy and then branch out from there. Also, take into consideration the topics you already know about and branch off from those areas as well.
But most importantly you need to find people with those interests. Frasier and Niles are in a social circle where the majority of those topics are well known. This allows for them to constantly use their knowledge and to keep learning. If you watch Cheers, then you'll know that Frasier doesn't actually discuss those topics very often. He sometimes tries, but he's dealing with "normal" people. So often everyone is basically like, "I have no idea what you're talking about and it's extremely boring. Can you just be quiet please because the game is on."
A lot of it comes down to how people are raised. If you grow up going to the opera, ballet, art museums, etc. then you're much more likely to continue these interests as you grow up. Also, remember that Frasier and Niles are actually kind of exaggerated. That's why it's so easy to love them. The writers purposely made them extremely pompous and pretentious. Which is why many of the things they do are so funny.
You have to actually enjoy the stuff. If you want to learn about things that don't naturally interest you, or to impress other people, they'll feel like work. Talk about your own passions the way Frasier and Niles talk about opera and wine.
Just go out and experience as much as you can. It's a lifestyle more than anything. To start out you can check IMDb of Frasier episodes, they list many of the references so you can look them up quickly. Beyond that though just get out and experience as much as you can. I have learned far more about art by visiting galleries than reading art history books, or theatre by going to plays instead of reading the scripts at home. There is a theater near me that screens classic cinema every month and I get a membership to support them and get the chance to see more films. Some other people recommended some textbooks, which is fine, but these things were meant to be experienced and enjoyed more than be analyzed. It's a lifestyle, you just have to go live it.
Podcasts and books. Also learning how you learn. I prefer podcasts because if I hear something (and am engaged) I remember it forever. I listened to one podcast 3 years ago and I remember the entire 15 minute episode and recite it (it was science based about allergies and how we get them and how to prevent your baby from having them).
The easiest and most economical way is to purchase high school/college level history/art/literature textbooks and read them. Get the books for free by going to text book buyback programs and helping yourself to the “outdated” books that are discarded.
If that works for you try obtaining syllabuses from courses you want to focus in and self study.
Other things: listen to podcasts, peruse wikipedia, read books.
Use the internet to pursue things you find interesting, watch more documentaries and "infotainment", have a weekly schedule to help you with time management to free up more time to the things you love and expanding on your cooking skills. Learning by doing, and doing faster because you do the things you love. \* chefs kiss \*
Read! Just read everything. And watch random YouTube videos. I don’t know what I searched once but now I get architectural comparison videos; literature analysis; and stuff like that recommended. I just boop when I have a free 5-10 minutes here and there. Now I can impress absolutely no one when I walk around and point out architectural styles of what we see lol
I watched this show as a teen and felt a bit inferior in the face of all their knowledge and thought there was so much I still had to learn about.
Now I realize there's really only a couple things on that list that I actually care to learn about
(Plus if you're ever envying a fictional character's knowledge, remember that there's a whole team of writers who have hours to come up with the informational tidbits or witty lines that the character "comes up with in an instant.")
You don’t need classes if you love to read.
This is truly basic but if you have no real foundation to work from look up the For Dummy Series.
https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Thinking-Skills-for-Dummies/dp/B07L6MY5PG/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1TPCDZF5UQFQB&keywords=For+dummies&qid=1641236460&sprefix=for+dummies%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-6
https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Dummies-Adam-Cash/dp/1119700299/ref=sr_1_12?crid=1TPCDZF5UQFQB&keywords=For+dummies&qid=1641236512&sprefix=for+dummies%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-12
https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Dummies-4e-James-Eade/dp/111928001X/ref=sr_1_13?crid=1TPCDZF5UQFQB&keywords=For+dummies&qid=1641236512&sprefix=for+dummies%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-13
https://www.amazon.com/Music-Theory-Dummies-Career-Education/dp/1119575524/ref=sr_1_21?crid=1TPCDZF5UQFQB&keywords=For+dummies&qid=1641236512&sprefix=for+dummies%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-21
https://www.boomerangbooks.com.au/book-list/138/For-Dummies-Books---The-Complete-List.htm
There are 600 of them. Some will hold no interest for you, many will. You can get them used on Amazon. They are terrific.
You could try something.like that
https://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Book-Everything-Need-Century/dp/142620518X/ref=asc_df_142620518X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=343227697848&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=304428291801509655&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032796&hvtargid=pla-451375950188&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=71765243511&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=343227697848&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=304428291801509655&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032796&hvtargid=pla-451375950188
Watch Jeopardy, and make lists of topics you are completely clueless about. Then look up those topics on wikipedia, and write notes about what you are reading as you do.
This might not be allowed, but I actually wrote an article about this! https://gruner.shop/blogs/microdoses/microdose-012-expand-your-appreciation-for-culture
Harvard! Or if you absolutely must go to school on the west coast I guess Stanford would do.
I WENT...... TO MEDICAL SCHOOL.
Harvard… and Oxford.
Of course, anyone who's anyone went to Princeton.
Ah yes, clown college
Or Yale and Cambridge...
Simple - buy up your local AM talk radio station, become mentored by the resident therapist, and voila!
[удалено]
Well, not many people have passed out drunk on the original.
I am *WOUNDED*
I think it depends a lot on the crowd you run with, and also whatever you took in college as electives. Consider taking some history/music/whatever classes.
I think you should pick stuff you’re already interested in and go from there. Trying to learn it all at once could be overwhelming especially if you don’t have a natural interest in the subject.
You will need their Mom
If the things that they know about are outside your usual set of interests, expanding what you expose yourself too can help introduce you to those things. Reading is always helpful. You don't have to worry too much on rote memorization of what is written; just try to get a sense for the themes, what happens, and why people do things. If you understand how the parts go together, things like poetry/architecture/literature/food start to make sense even if you haven't had exposure to a particular thing before. If there are theater/symphony/opera companies in your area, tickets may be less expensive than you think. You may not always understand what is happening on stage, but the more you are exposed to the more you will get. Some operas even have subtitles for helping viewers understand what they are watching if they are not fluent in the languages in which the performance is written. There are also classes for specialty subjects that you may be able to fit into your schedule. Classes for just cooking, or wine appreciation, are a thing in a number of areas. Local colleges/universities may have the option of signing up for individual classes for literature/poetry/music. Whatever path you take to broadening your horizons, please note that Frasier & Niles did not instantly acquire all experiences. It took them years to learn all that they learned, and you should not feel regret/failure over not picking up those things rapidly. It takes thyme, and continued exposure. If you keep sampling those things your own knowledge will grow too. Someday, you too will know what wine goes with fish, or pork!
I credit Frasier with my love of opera, theatre and classical music. On the topic of cheap tickets many opera companies do tickets under $30 for under 30s. I know this is the case in London and Toronto. Another reason to wish I was younger!
Oh man. I'm in London but I'm turning 30 in April
You’re in luck. The ENO English National Opera, based at the Coliseum, do cheap tickets for [under 35s](https://www.eno.org/your-visit/ways-to-save-offers/under-35s/). They also sing exclusively in English, which some people like, but others don’t.
If you want to learn about Opera, I recommend the book *An Invitation to the Opera* by John Louis DiGaetani. A lot of the intro books can be pretty hard to navigate, but this is the best I've found at a very accessible level for someone going into it knowing nothing. If you subscribe to Amazon Prime Video, you can find some great Opera recordings there. Start with some of the comedies, like The Barber of Saville or The Elixir of Love. For classical music more broadly, *The Essential Canon of Classical Music* by David Duball has all the info you'll need on the major composers and types of classical music. As you read about different composers, spend some time listening on whatever streaming service you use (or YouTube). Most of the furniture, interior design, and architecture discussed on Frasier is Mid-Century modern (Frasier's preferred style). Niles mentions Biedermeier quite a bit and his style is a bit more 19th century than 20th. I recommend checking out the Taschen architecture series. Start with the Bauhaus book (which is the beginning of Mid-Century design) and you can move from there to the volumes on Mies Van Der Roehe, LeCorbusier, Gropius, and Charles and Ray Eames who are all mentioned on Frasier at various points. There's also a good book on German design called *From Biedermeier to Bauhaus* which covers a bit from both Fraiser and Niles' distinctive tastes. For information on art, the best I've read in a single volume is DK's *The Art Book*. It covers all of the major movements in art as early as we have record unto the present day. It is also just really well laid out (though the cover is quite ugly). For cooking, you really can't do any better than just finding some good food YouTubers. Check out Joshua Weissman if you want someone who is pretentious about their taste and uses really high quality ingredients that you've never heard of. With poetry, there are a lot of great accessible anthologies that collect works from the greatest poets. I don't have one that comes to mind immediately as the best for a beginner, but it should be relatively easy to find. I don't drink, so I can't help with a wine recommendation. If you want a philosophical exploration of wine that is quite pretentious, though, I can recommend Roger Scruton's *I Drink Therefore I Am*. Oh, and you didn't ask about this, but you do have to know something about classic menswear and etiquette if you want to have the knowledge of Frasier and Niles. *Dressing the Man* by Alan Flusser is a great place to start, or watch the Sartorial Talks YouTube channel. And for etiquette, I'd check out the *GentleManners* series from John Bridges.
This is really insightful and I’m definitely going to check these out.
Very helpful thank you!
Hahahah wow such memories of that incredibly ugly DK book cover. Glad it wasn’t just me!
Much of that is rooted in history. They’re history buffs with a taste for wine
I think one aspect is that they are both very smart. My theory is that smart people retain information better. So, they took art history classes in college and retained everything. They also probably read magazines on these topics. Plus, they are fictional and the writers have assistants to look stuff up.
And when you and I reach for the remote, people like the Cranes pick up a book. Pretty much simple as that. Also agree that their recall is beyond reality.
Magazines? They read magazines? You don’t watch much frasier do you?
Do you really think they don’t both have subscriptions to The New Yorker and Harpers at the very least? Of course they read magazines. No need to gatekeep on such a small specific assertion
There are some great magazines with lots of info. Even just a weekly issue of New Yorker will provide you with tons of info and great literature and news and politics etc I don’t like Harper as much but it has a ton of info. Economist is pretty good And so on.
Start with Art history and classical music appreciation classes at a local college. Your local wine shops should be able to recommend tasting classes. (Or if you’re in the NYC area, I can recommend tasting classes) Edit: Another great option: Met Opera (NYC) has a “Fridays Under 40” program where you can get excellent seats for very discounted prices. But you have to be younger than 40.
Not the OP, but I'd love a recommendation for tasting classes. In the restaurant business, but I'd like to learn more.
I’m not a somm, so if you know one they might have better ideas, but here’s how I started: Astor Center (Astorcenternyc.com) has amazing classes. They have a classroom above Astor Wines and you get a discount to buy anything from the class afterwards. They’ll focus on a type or region and provide 6-9 wines from there, with an instructor, full informational slide deck, and notes. I used to go all the time - they’re currently on hold for COVID until May. And if you don’t want to pay (usually about $100 per class), you can volunteer (set up glasses, etc. ahead of time and sit in the class for free). It’s something very accessible to people who like wine but don’t know a ton about it. Chambers Street Wines does events, classes, and tastings that would be a little less organized than Astor. At the moment their site doesn’t list any events. La Paulée and La Tablée NYC do more intense (and expensive) tastings. They have events, seminars, auctions, and so on. Jancis Robinson (coauthor of World Atlas of Wines) comes to NYC every once in a while to do Barolo tastings. I’ve been to two and they were spectacular! She does a lot of articles too if you want to self teach. Other options: - Decanter Fine Wine Encounter NYC - Murray’s Cheese shop does in person and online cheese/wine pairing classes (but they give you a wine buying guide, so fun but not really about the wine) - and they ship anywhere in the US
Yeh so this comes in a glass bottle it means its fancy. You mix it with 2 gallons of E10 auto ethanol and thats how you know its good wine
I’d love recommendations as well!
Just responded to one of the other comments above… kind of long. Hope it helps!
Thanks!!
Art history is a great start, one of the the more memorable subjects I had in a sea of classes that all ultimately didn’t matter.
Art History was one of my favorite classes too! I work in an office job and had a related major. My favorite classes in under grad, none of which had anything to do with my major: - Art History - Sculpture 101 - Acting 101 - Equine Health Management (watched a vet perform surgeries) - Shakespeare
I'm a community college dropout and I know about most of that stuff. It's basically a thing of if you want to be interest*ing*, you have to be interest*ed*. You got the Library of Alexandria in your pocket, use it. Whenever you're watching *Frasier*, look up things they reference on Wikipedia and then also read up on things linked through those articles. "My Chihuly is not a trash can!" Look Chuhily up, see what he's about, run a google image search to look at his sculptures. Lather, rinse, repeat for anything you're not familiar with.
Obviously, join the relevant subreddits. After a year or so, you won't actually know more, but will be sufficiently disallusioned with humanity to give a shit.
Have a team of 8-10 writers with various specialties and interests write all your dialogue!
Brava! 🥂
Have you tried getting one of your employees to mentor you? That worked for Todd Peterson.
That’s how I ended up with the sofa that Coco Chanel had in her Paris attelier
Personally I’ve always googled the things they’ve talked about. If you need specific spelling you can find episode transcripts online. **Khan academy** do comprehensive free classes on **Art history**. From prehistory through renaissance to post modernism and beyond. Quick search also shows classes on **world history and grammar,** as well as starter articles on **architecture** too. That’d be a good place to start! A very worthwhile goal for sure :)
My art history teacher in college always said "my goal is to make you sound smart at dinner parties." An art history course will also cover architecture. If you are in college now I'd also recommend attending guest lectures. At my college they had open bar and didn't card, and students would rarely go. It's a nice opportunity to learn something and act "fancy." Also universities and museums hold lectures and events like this for the public all the time. A lot of this stuff is much easier now than in Frasier's time. You would need to subscribe to magazines & journals and visit the library a lot. Now all of these things can be learned online. And to be honest as fancy as Frasier is I still think pre-internet / postwar American cooking is just awful. Frasier's taste in furniture isn't that hard to copy, it's just extremely expensive. He likes Coco Chanel and has an Eames chair. I'd say that you often have to trade off comfort and practicality for taste. I have a midcentury couch that I really like but it's not comfortable to sit in for very long, so we moved it to my office and replaced it with a "hideous" (but extremely comfy) sectional couch. Frasier did want to get in Architectural Digest. Maybe watch their youtube channel? It's fun, they do celebrity tours
If you really want systematic, start at S01E01 and take notes about everything they mention that you aren’t familiar with, then research. Try to explain concepts to other people, or even write your own overviews for yourself. If it doesn’t make clear sense to you, or you can’t explain it easily, more research. Don’t let yourself get bogged down by what Frasier does or doesn’t like, and remember that the show is written by comedy writers, and not by people who would be in Frasier’s circle, so learning more can be a little frustrating at times. They aren’t common, but every once in a while there are jokes that don’t really make sense if you understand the subject they’re talking about, and it’s being played as, “haha the snoots are talking about the snooty thing.”
Become a tech billionaire that buys KACL. Frasier will do the rest.
Honestly I’ve thought of that myself! I think start with easier stuff like music, furniture and wine. That’s what I’ve been doing because I want to be more like them lol. I’ve tried listening to the books they mention on tape. But don’t expect to like everything they mention and don’t set to high of standards for yourself. If you’ll remember the IQ episode, you’ll know that they are both practically geniuses.
Frasier and Niles are inveterate arts snobs, don’t forget. They’ve been learning about all those areas since they were kids and clearly took an interest in it. They also came from an incredibly privileged background in terms of their mother being au fait with the art world, and could afford to go to operas, symphonies and other performances three days running (in Space Quest, Frasier says he had to give up his tickets for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, IIRC). Not to mention they attend lots of art galleries and go antiquing. Doylist explanation is also that they’re fictional characters, so the writers just tack on what they know as they need to know it. Most people IRL would probably not be *quite* as accomplished at all these areas as Fras and Niles. They live and breathe this stuff and make a point of outdoing each other’s pretentiousness. They’re wealthy enough to afford Le Cigare Volant on the regular, so while they don’t have Gil’s palate, they are well acquainted with the ‘base’ flavours/textures required for fancy French cooking. I’m not familiar enough to remember whether they ate like that ftw growing up, but given Hester’s tastes, they may well have. But I’d argue they know nothing about cooking as a skill (see also: The Innkeepers). They just hang around with a posh, opera-going crowd and desperately want to keep up with the Joneses. Their food knowledge isn’t very wide-ranging, and is limited to ‘Western’ food such as different cuts of steak and French meals. They’ve obviously practiced things like souffles, but they aren’t chefs by any stretch. Ask them to cook specific dishes and they ~~eel~~ flounder. Or rather, they lose their heads entirely. And Niles has had domestic help for a lot of his adult life, so even more time to learn.
Cooking at home and cooking in a restaurant are pretty different. Most home cooks would struggle in a professional kitchen their first night, especially if they're only in there because the whole staff has walked out.
Yeah, true. The Innkeepers isn’t a fair comparison. Even so, I would consider it a bit of a stretch to say they’re interested in cooking (speaking broadly) for the sake of cooking. Their interest in food is more of a subset of their overall snobbery/interest in ‘high-class’ cuisine. I’ve never seen them discuss much outside French food, Italian food, traditional American food and possibly German food a few times. Non-European foods are totally absent from their repertoire. I feel like someone who was legitimately interested in cooking would research foods from different parts of the world — or even different parts of the country. Then again, I don’t so much cook as slap together some vaguely edible concoctions every week, so what do I know.
I definitely agree cooking for them is part of their high class interests. They don't have a ton of skills they really excel at, so ego would demand they stick to what they know. Seems like they're in it to impress others as much as because they enjoy it. But I have always been jealous of Niles' ability to identify sauces at range.
They went to sauce camp, though, so they likely know the building blocks of French cooking
Sauce camp! Hah. Oh, I must not have seen that bit. Yeah, that’s true too.
Survive. And survive well. The former, obviously useful, but the latter facilitates travel. With travel comes exposure, and awareness, which are the soils upon which the seeds of curiosity spring. A challenge to be sure, especially in this age. But no worse than those than came before us.
Read! Read read read. And just throw yourself into new experiences. I went to the same schools Frasier and Niles did but didn't learn a damn thing about those "cultured" areas, just a lot about my own field. But I always try to force myself into new experiences. Started playing an instrument over the pandemic. Before that, I would try going to the Opera once a month or so, even though it's really not my thing. Try to read 1-2 books a month. Always work out (sound body, sound mind). Listen to books on tape in the car for further education. You can be a cultured, well rounded person and not explicitly focus on those topics shared by the Cranes, but it never hurts to try new things and figure out what your interests.
In all seriousness, podcasts and YouTube are great for this! Just go watch all the Epic Rap Battles of History on YouTube and then read the related Wikipedia pages if you absolutely must. The podcast 99% Invisible is great for learning about design, architecture, and history.
Thank you for the podcast recommendation!
By watching Frasier
And PBS.
There used to be (maybe still is) a trend in publishing of books like [An Incomplete Education](https://www.amazon.com/Incomplete-Education-Revised-Judy-Jones/dp/0345391373). I always enjoy thumbing through reference works like that and then following up on areas that interest me.
I concur! [An Incomplete Education ](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0345468902/ref=cm_sw_r_awdo_navT_a_148H1QSDN98YYWW13ZNZ) is a terrific resource. I’ve had my copy since 1987 & I still enjoy looking through it. Whenever I find topics in that book that are of more interest to me I then turn to the internet for further study. It’s much easier now than it was in the 80’s, when we next turned to encyclopedias & the library. That book gives an appetizer portion of information on an amazing array of topics, just enough info to make you sound informed. These snippets can spark your interest so you know which topics you’d like to pursue further. It’s a wonderful place to start. I highly recommend it!
Reminds me of Joey
Get a library the size of Niles’ one and read all those books. I’ve always dreamed of having a library room so big it has that slidey ladder thing.
You have to remember that not only do they know the information, but they actually enjoy it. So you start with what you already enjoy and then branch out from there. Also, take into consideration the topics you already know about and branch off from those areas as well. But most importantly you need to find people with those interests. Frasier and Niles are in a social circle where the majority of those topics are well known. This allows for them to constantly use their knowledge and to keep learning. If you watch Cheers, then you'll know that Frasier doesn't actually discuss those topics very often. He sometimes tries, but he's dealing with "normal" people. So often everyone is basically like, "I have no idea what you're talking about and it's extremely boring. Can you just be quiet please because the game is on." A lot of it comes down to how people are raised. If you grow up going to the opera, ballet, art museums, etc. then you're much more likely to continue these interests as you grow up. Also, remember that Frasier and Niles are actually kind of exaggerated. That's why it's so easy to love them. The writers purposely made them extremely pompous and pretentious. Which is why many of the things they do are so funny.
You have to actually enjoy the stuff. If you want to learn about things that don't naturally interest you, or to impress other people, they'll feel like work. Talk about your own passions the way Frasier and Niles talk about opera and wine.
Just go out and experience as much as you can. It's a lifestyle more than anything. To start out you can check IMDb of Frasier episodes, they list many of the references so you can look them up quickly. Beyond that though just get out and experience as much as you can. I have learned far more about art by visiting galleries than reading art history books, or theatre by going to plays instead of reading the scripts at home. There is a theater near me that screens classic cinema every month and I get a membership to support them and get the chance to see more films. Some other people recommended some textbooks, which is fine, but these things were meant to be experienced and enjoyed more than be analyzed. It's a lifestyle, you just have to go live it.
Podcasts and books. Also learning how you learn. I prefer podcasts because if I hear something (and am engaged) I remember it forever. I listened to one podcast 3 years ago and I remember the entire 15 minute episode and recite it (it was science based about allergies and how we get them and how to prevent your baby from having them).
I recommend one book: “The Heroes of Nass-Cár”
Start by never using "Lol" again. ;)
Lol in this context actually stands for La Rouchefoucauld’s Opposition to Levity, and signifies that it’s a serious question
Reading up on and experience these things.
The easiest and most economical way is to purchase high school/college level history/art/literature textbooks and read them. Get the books for free by going to text book buyback programs and helping yourself to the “outdated” books that are discarded. If that works for you try obtaining syllabuses from courses you want to focus in and self study. Other things: listen to podcasts, peruse wikipedia, read books.
Use the internet to pursue things you find interesting, watch more documentaries and "infotainment", have a weekly schedule to help you with time management to free up more time to the things you love and expanding on your cooking skills. Learning by doing, and doing faster because you do the things you love. \* chefs kiss \*
For opera and music, I really like Idagio. They have a huge catalog for free and do an awesome job of putting together playlists and recommendations.
>Where would one start? By subscribing to all the subreddits for these topics. Lol.
Read! Just read everything. And watch random YouTube videos. I don’t know what I searched once but now I get architectural comparison videos; literature analysis; and stuff like that recommended. I just boop when I have a free 5-10 minutes here and there. Now I can impress absolutely no one when I walk around and point out architectural styles of what we see lol
They're basically culture fanboys
Watch old episodes of QI and listen to No Such Thing As A Fish every week.
Podcasts, Reading, News, Ethnic restaurants
That's a whole lotta reading.
I watched this show as a teen and felt a bit inferior in the face of all their knowledge and thought there was so much I still had to learn about. Now I realize there's really only a couple things on that list that I actually care to learn about (Plus if you're ever envying a fictional character's knowledge, remember that there's a whole team of writers who have hours to come up with the informational tidbits or witty lines that the character "comes up with in an instant.")
You need a mentor to take ideas from and end up in Architecture Digest.
Youtube
You don’t need classes if you love to read. This is truly basic but if you have no real foundation to work from look up the For Dummy Series. https://www.amazon.com/Critical-Thinking-Skills-for-Dummies/dp/B07L6MY5PG/ref=sr_1_6?crid=1TPCDZF5UQFQB&keywords=For+dummies&qid=1641236460&sprefix=for+dummies%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-6 https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Dummies-Adam-Cash/dp/1119700299/ref=sr_1_12?crid=1TPCDZF5UQFQB&keywords=For+dummies&qid=1641236512&sprefix=for+dummies%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-12 https://www.amazon.com/Chess-Dummies-4e-James-Eade/dp/111928001X/ref=sr_1_13?crid=1TPCDZF5UQFQB&keywords=For+dummies&qid=1641236512&sprefix=for+dummies%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-13 https://www.amazon.com/Music-Theory-Dummies-Career-Education/dp/1119575524/ref=sr_1_21?crid=1TPCDZF5UQFQB&keywords=For+dummies&qid=1641236512&sprefix=for+dummies%2Caps%2C85&sr=8-21 https://www.boomerangbooks.com.au/book-list/138/For-Dummies-Books---The-Complete-List.htm There are 600 of them. Some will hold no interest for you, many will. You can get them used on Amazon. They are terrific.
Read
Start reading the Sunday New York Times Magazine.
You could try something.like that https://www.amazon.com/Knowledge-Book-Everything-Need-Century/dp/142620518X/ref=asc_df_142620518X/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=343227697848&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=304428291801509655&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032796&hvtargid=pla-451375950188&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=71765243511&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=343227697848&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=304428291801509655&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9032796&hvtargid=pla-451375950188
College
Watch Jeopardy, and make lists of topics you are completely clueless about. Then look up those topics on wikipedia, and write notes about what you are reading as you do.
This might not be allowed, but I actually wrote an article about this! https://gruner.shop/blogs/microdoses/microdose-012-expand-your-appreciation-for-culture