The East · Monarchies · Society · Humour
A Turkish proverb about a clown who moves into a palace
When a clown moves into a palace, he does not become a king. The palace turns into a circus Turkish proverb
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Books · Society
Alexander Prokhanov on the arrival of two presidents and their meeting on the red carpet
The presidents stepped out of their aircraft at the same moment, solitary, without retinue, and descended the steps as though two envoys of two great civilisations were coming down from the heavens. They walked along the red carpet, drawing closer, and it was frightening to think that they might miss
Art · Museums · Saint Petersburg · Ethnography
Figures in Russian and Bashkir national costume
Figures in Russian and Bashkir national costume. From the Berlin dessert service, after models by Friedrich Elias Meyer. Prussia, Berlin, Royal Porcelain Manufactory, 1770-1772. Porcelain, overglaze painting, gilding Hermitage Collection
NB!
Entrance to the Azzedine Alaïa Foundation with the Alaïa and Mugler exhibition poster
Coming Up · Art · Museums · Paris · Pop Culture
Fashion exhibitions until January 2026, from Paul Poiret and Worth to Rick Owens and the Louvre
Tomorrow brings our customary roundup of new museum and gallery exhibitions in Moscow, but today I suggest you save a route through the fashion exhibitions now running in Paris. 📌 Paul Poiret, la mode est une fête. Musée des Arts Décoratifs (MAD) - until 11 January 2026. A major retrospective of a
NB! · Art · Paris
Commode created by the decorator André Goult together with his brother-in-law Paul Poiret in 1935
Geography · London · Moscow · New York · Society · Paris · Saint Petersburg
Population growth of Moscow and Saint Petersburg from 1800 to 1900
Population of London, New York, Paris, Berlin, Saint Petersburg and Moscow in 1800, 1830, 1871 and 1900. Moscow: 250,000 - 305,000 - 601,000 - 1,175,000 Saint Petersburg: 220,000 - 442,000 - 668,000 - 1,418,000
Faith · Books · Observations
Monk Simeon of Athos on suffering, forgiveness, listening and peace of soul
Who is the best teacher? – Suffering. Who is the worst teacher? – Pleasure. What is the rarest skill? – The ability to give. What is the greatest skill? – The ability to forgive. What is the most difficult skill? – The ability to keep silent. What is the most important skill? – The ability to
Books · Observations
Machines and a mechanical doll in Alexander Grin’s 1921 novella “The Grey Automobile”
Beware of things! They enslave us very quickly and very firmly! So Ebenezer Sidney, the hero of Alexander Grin's novella “The Grey Motor-Car”, warns his interlocutor as he reflects on the degree to which mechanical objects (or creatures) may be endowed with life. I recalled the story
Books · Observations · Society · Humour
And the weaver, and Babarikha, and the crooked cook sit round the Tsar, staring like evil toads
A quotation from a Doctor of Sciences on an analytical programme on Channel One about the meeting in Alaska. There will be no other analysis today
Books · Science · Palaeontology · Nature
Yevgeny Yevtushenko on the last mammoth and the Yakutian mummy of Yuka the mammoth
He trod with difficulty along the spur above the ice-bound river. There used to be many of them, the proud ones, many, and he was the last of such. Tried more than once in the storm, today he gave way, as if out of spite. From the arrows sticking
NB! · Observations