NB! · Observations · Humour

I am trying to get through a run of celebrations without sinking into drink, relying on nothing but the help of higher powers

Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Origins of the words suede and zamsha, Swedish gloves and the chamois

Our good old acquaintance, Carl Philip, Prince of Suede, that is to say, of Sweden. This form of the word, suede, came into English from French, where it took hold thanks to the expression gants de Suède, "Swedish gloves", the name for articles made of the very soft,

London · Monarchies · Humour

Elizabeth II sets an example of proper social distancing

The English royal family has reunited at Windsor Castle. In the photograph: the Queen's youngest son and his wife, the Earl and Countess of Wessex, William and Kate, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, and Princess Anne

A white automatic dispenser with a cross and the words “Holy water” in four languages, bearing an image of Christ, in a church beside wooden pews.

NB! · Architecture · Faith · Humour

Automatic holy water dispenser in the Church of Saint Catherine in Brussels

Church of Saint Catherine, Brussels. Witty, modern and, above all, effective. Amen

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Seven-month-old Prince Charles of Luxembourg prepares for his first Christmas

Seven-month-old Prince Charles of Luxembourg, the first child of Hereditary Grand Duke Guillaume and his wife Countess Stéphanie de Lannoy, is preparing to celebrate his first Christmas. I look at this photograph and remember travelling to Luxembourg by bus with Auntie Nina to buy meat for borscht, because

NB! · Books · Observations · Humour

The most expensive, of course, is the collection of my rare works and letters at 433,000 roubles on Ozon

The most expensive, of course, is the collection of my rare works and letters at 433,000 roubles on Ozon. So far I cannot afford them myself 😂

NB! · Pop Culture · Humour

Someone sent me a collectable stamp with two John Fitzgerald Kennedys: one at the desk, the other under it 💓

NB! · Archive · People · Humour

Perhaps you would be interested to see Khrushchev with hair

Perhaps you would be interested to see Khrushchev with hair. 1936, for example

NB! · Archive · Humour

The Most Charming Christmas Decoration in the World Has Been Found

In the Press · Books · Observations · Humour

The books issue of Elle and stories of book theft from libraries in Moscow, Oxford and the US

I know everyone has already written about the "book" issue of Elle, guest-edited by Anna Popova, whom we know from the Dostoevsky bookshop. I leafed through it, and there is Katya Mukhina in her editor's letter writing about an assistant who stole from her the

Science · People · Nature · Humour

Speaking of feline co-authors, one cannot fail to recall the beloved cat of the great scholar Yury Valentinovich Knorozov: Asya, whom Yury Valentinovich quite seriously regarded as his co-author and signed accordingly, though obstinate editors refused…

Science · People · Humour

In the academic journal Physical Review Letters of 24 November 1975 there appeared a cryogenics paper, "Two-, Three-, and Four-Atom Exchange Effects in bcc 3He", by members of the Department of Physics of the University of Michigan…

In the academic journal Physical Review Letters of 24 November 1975 there appeared a cryogenics paper, "Two-, Three-, and Four-Atom Exchange Effects in bcc 3He", by Professors J. H. Hetherington and F. D. C. Willard of the Department of Physics of the University of Michigan. Five years