Archive · Books · Monarchies · Paris · People
My dear mama, on Tuesday there was a festival I shall never forget. We made our solemn entry into Paris. As for honours, we received all the honours that can be imagined, but it was not these that touched me most. What truly impressed me were the poor, who expressed
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Books · Observations
Everyone, I suppose, thinks: "Oblomov? Certainly not! How could one possibly?" But sooner or later there comes a time to admit, in silence: I am Oblomov
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NB! · Moscow · Observations
Observations · Education · Society
It seems the Anglo-Saxons have finally surrendered. At any rate, they have certainly surrendered their language. The BBC website has a version in English, or, to put it as gently as possible, in its Afro-ghetto variety. Try reading any news item in this dialect. It is as though
Art · Cinema · New York
Wes Anderson's new film "The Phoenician Scheme" has opened in New York and Los Angeles. Its hero, Zsa-zsa Korda (played by Benicio del Toro), a charming swindler, hatches a grandiose transcontinental project, the "Phoenician Scheme". But his plan, as is the way of
Archaeology · Moscow · Museums
Specialists have completed the restoration and scholarly study of a hoard of sixteenth-century copper coins. It was found by the capital's archaeologists on Bolshaya Tatarskaya Street. Archaeological investigations were carried out here at several excavation sites at once in 2023–2024. An important part of the find
NB! · In the Press · Observations
It is very pleasing to see that, with the release of the fourth episode, my podcast has climbed to 15th place in the Russian charts! Thank you to everyone who is supporting it
The East · Art · Monarchies · Observations · Humour
Emperor Alexander I and Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna, Drawn in Japan. The august pair were captured by an artist who most probably never saw them and had not the faintest notion of their appearance, so that the realism of the portraits rests solely on pale skin and fair hair. I do