London · Mores · People · Pop Culture

Maggie Smith with her son Toby Stephens

Maggie Smith with her son Toby Stephens. What? Yes! Incidentally, Maggie's elder son Chris Larkin is also an actor. When Toby was studying at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, a rumour went round that one of the students was Maggie Smith's child. Everyone

NB! · Cinema · Pop Culture · Humour

The housekeeper objected that acromantula venom is incredibly, extraordinarily valuable

NB! · Archive · Architecture · Faith · Paris

The Building of the Basilica of Sacré-Cœur, Paris, 1895

NB! · Cinema · Paris · People

On this day ten years ago, at only 58, the beauty Maria Schneider died, famed for her roles in "Last Tango in Paris" with Marlon Brando and "The Passenger" with Jack Nicholson

Archive · Observations · Society

Provocation and blackmail in the former Police Department and Governor-General Pilts's letter

I cannot refrain from sharing with you the vile thoughts that arise after the revelation of certain abominations in our Police Department, rechristened with the bashful name of Civil. Div. of the State Guard. This institution has begun work only very recently, yet it has contrived such doings as the

NB! · Observations

An Epic Shot

Faith · Observations · People

Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, aged 94, remains the longest-lived pope in history

Do you recognise this elderly man with the meek gaze? The chief clue is the white robe. His Holiness Benedict XVI, now 94, may be Pope Emeritus, but he still always wears white, for he remains the Pope. At present Benedict is the longest-lived Pope in history. When he

A young woman in a white lace dress with full sleeves, a sheer hood and mask poses with a hand on her hip. Bluish reflections, light flares and a dark forest backdrop surround her.

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Model in a white lace dress with a sheer hood and face mask

NB! · Cinema · Books · Observations · Pop Culture · Ethnography

As for the images from "Quiet Flows the Don", I was reminded of Ulyana Sergeenko's 2019 collection, which was inspired precisely by this screen adaptation of the novel

As for the images from "Quiet Flows the Don", I was reminded of Ulyana Sergeenko's 2019 collection, which was inspired precisely by this screen adaptation of the novel. One can make out lace masks, prints on fabric with steppe landscapes, and headscarves

Cinema · Books · Observations · Ethnography

Aksinya and Darya veil their faces with scarves in the haymaking scene of “And Quiet Flows the Don”

Strange, really, that with the epidemic upheavals in fashion no designer has borrowed the manner of swathing the whole face in a headscarf from Aksinya and Darya in the haymaking scene of "Quiet Flows the Don". How elegant, and how wonderfully original! The text describes it simply, without

NB! · Cinema · Pop Culture

"I have just confiscated an interesting little item from Mr Potter, a scroll of black magic." "It looks more like a parchment that tempts anyone who reads it. But it would be better to study its possible hidden properties"

"I have just confiscated an interesting little item from Mr Potter, a scroll of black magic." "It looks more like a parchment that tempts anyone who reads it. But it would be better to study its possible hidden properties."

Books · Observations · Society

There will yet be accusations against the author from so-called patriots, who sit quietly in their corners occupied with wholly unrelated affairs, piling up little fortunes and arranging their own fate at the expense of others; but the moment something ha

There will yet be accusations against the author from so-called patriots, who sit quietly in their corners occupied with wholly unrelated affairs, piling up little fortunes and arranging their own fate at the expense of others; but the moment something happens that they consider offensive to the fatherland, some

Alexandr Radayev