NB! · Observations · Paris · People · Humour

Claude Debussy, who died as the First World War drew to its close, has a maximally dull grave, and I cannot imagine how Manuel de Falla managed to dedicate music to this resting place, music of which, incidentally, I am not much enamoured either

Art · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Hairstyle of Empress Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus, on a coin

All the best things were invented in antiquity. Take this hairstyle of the Empress Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus. I understand that few would expend so much effort on arranging their hair, especially in the absence of slave labour, but it looks positively regal. Incidentally, I commend the maker

Books · Observations

And suddenly summer was plunged into autumn

Oscar Wilde

Black-and-white drawing: iron bars between stone blocks are threaded onto a vertical rod and bound by a ring to a forged pin with curved, splayed prongs.

NB!

Iron clamps and dowels in stone masonry: a technical engraving

A dark iron anchor shaped like a cross on a stone wall with peeling white plaster.

NB! · Architecture · Humour

A façade anchor with tie rods on a wall with peeling plaster

What is a facade anchor with tie rods, or what does iron patience look like? Rather like the back of a television presenter's head after a facelift

NB! · Observations · Humour

Good Boots, Worth Having

Books · Observations · Pop Culture

In Agatha Christie's story "Harlequin's Lane" from the collection "The Mysterious Mr Quin", devoted entirely to one of the author's own favourite characters, Mr Harley Quin, there appears a cameo by the Russian ballerina Tamara Karsavina…

While visiting the married couple the Denmans, the conversation turns to Russia. The wife, Anna, is a Russian émigrée who was rescued from the storm of revolution when still very young. Speaking of ballet, she says that she knows everything about it, since she herself once danced. In the denouement

NB! · Observations

There it is, and what is to be done

NB!

Here is one of those stories people argue about

Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage

Specialists correct the tilt of the pedestals of late Empire style gates

Restorers in the Neskuchny Garden Rescue the Ceremonial Gates of the Alexandrinsky Palace - "Seasons" With time, the pedestals for the statues had leaned badly towards one another and looked alarming. The gates, created in the Late Empire style, are an architectural masterpiece of the mid-nineteenth century, and

Hand-drawn panel: a man in a hat and jacket holds a wine glass amid sheets covered in letters. Captions: «Теперь я делаю чё хочу» and «А вот вы чё хотите?».

NB!

Comic panel: a man with a wine glass saying he now does whatever he wants

Art · Moscow · Museums · Society Pages · Humour

Cosmoscow Anecdotes

Maxim Boxer asks: how much is this Shelkovsky? The reply: the work is not for sale, it is a museum exhibit, you are at the stand of the Multimedia Art Museum. A pity

Alexandr Radayev