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Observations · Mores · Society · Paris · Humour
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo signs a crab shell, and the origin of the word cutlet
Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris with newly sprouted presidential ambitions, signs a crab's shell. She writes: Vive La France! At least it is not a half-eaten cutlet, that is, a steak haché (if you ask a waiter in France for a cutlet, and the word really was
Art · Cinema · Books · London · Monarchies
Edward V and brother Richard, who vanished in the Tower, in Shakespeare and art
John Everett Millais, The Princes in the Tower, 1878. The two princes who vanished without trace from their confinement in the Tower made an impression even on Shakespeare. He told the story of Edward V and his younger brother Richard in the history play "Richard III". Edward V
NB! · Art · Observations · Ethnography
Anna Samoilova's series “Kuda det volyu devichyu” and the return of folk motifs to art
I like how folk motifs are appearing in art once more. Works by Anna Samoylova from the series “Kuda det' volyu devich'yu” [“What to Do with a Maiden's Freedom”]. I do hope the Abramtsevo of the third millennium is not long in coming
Moscow · Observations · Mores
Thonet Brothers armchairs in a Tverskaya bistro and the history of the Vienna chair
Dropped into the Turkish bistro Mini Turkish Spot on Tverskaya and was pleasantly surprised to find, by the entrance, some splendid antique chairs by the Thonet Brothers. I even know where they were bought, an excellent choice. There was a time when Thonet bentwood furniture stood in almost every home,
Art · Books · Museums · Science
Vermeer painted The Astronomer and The Geographer in 1668-1669 in the same interior
While you were making a discovery, Vermeer managed to paint two pictures. The pictures are called The Astronomer and The Geographer; they were painted in 1668-1669, and they show one and the same man in one and the same interior, but with different attributes. The Astronomer is in the
Archaeology · Observations · Humour
Child's potty of the 6th century BC found in Athens and the inventions of ancient Greece
Don't even think of trying to escape. A child's potty of the 6th century BC, found in Athens. It is odd that this ingenious model is not manufactured today, but it does make plain the thesis that in Ancient Greece literally everything was invented, and that
Cinema · People · Pop Culture
Actress Nina Urgant, who appeared in “Belorussky Station”, dies in her 93rd year
Today we lost one of the brightest actresses of Soviet theatre and cinema, a beauty, a lyrical heroine and a refined, cultivated woman: Nina Urgant. Nina Nikolayevna passed away in her 93rd year. Naturally, everyone has now recalled the song that became a beloved anthem of the whole nation, "
NB! · Archive · Mores
A greeting in the window of a lingerie shop in Magdeburg, GDR, 1970s
NB! · Geography · Maps · Observations
West to east extent of Africa is closer to that of Russia than world maps show
Sometimes we live in the grip of delusions. Yes, in reality the extent of the African continent from west to east is far closer to that of Russia than world maps would have us believe
NB! · Pop Culture · Humour
Nike?
Nike? An excellent choice!
NB! · Cinema · Observations · Humour