NB! · Monarchies · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands and Scarlett Johansson

Princess Beatrix of the Netherlands and Scarlett Johansson. Although in other photos there is no such resemblance

NB! · Archaeology · Museums · Observations · Humour

I suppose it is very silly that the sight of this dead boy on the lid of a 3rd-century AD sarcophagus brings to mind the warning not to lie on one's side, though in this particular case, of course, any wolf would break its teeth

I suppose it is very silly that the sight of this dead boy on the lid of a 3rd-century AD sarcophagus brings to mind the warning not to lie on one's side, though in this particular case, of course, any wolf would break its teeth. Maffei Lapidary

Books · Observations · Humour

An analysis of the phrase about the century's youth coinciding with Vladimir Ulyanov's youth

There are expressions that seem to mean nothing at all and to have no sense whatever, and yet seem to contain some beautiful, even winged, thought. Take, for example, “the youth of the century coincided with the youth of Vladimir Ulyanov”. What does this phrase actually tell us? That in

NB! · Observations · Society · Humour

An Interesting Monument to the Soviet Authorities and to Mikhail Gorbachev Personally in the Stanitsa of Golubitskoye: A Path Resembling End-Grain Parquet, Made from Oak Vine Stakes Cut Down in the Years of the Dry Law

NB! · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

A whole subculture has grown up around the Union of Salvation, and it is most entertaining to observe

A whole subculture has grown up around the Union of Salvation, and it is most entertaining to observe. And the jokes are good, as they say

NB! · Palaeontology · Nature · Humour

"Goodness, how lovely!" "Those are the fossilised droppings of a giant sloth"

Aristocracy · Monarchies · Mores · Humour

King Philippe of Belgium meets his sister Delphine, legally recognised as Albert II's daughter

When a woman you have never met gets a court to make your father adopt her, and then comes to tea. This photograph captures, quite literally, the first meeting of King Philippe of Belgium with his sister, Princess Delphine of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, the illegitimate daughter of King Albert II

Archaeology · Observations · Rome · Humour

Aulus Aemilius paved a square in Terracina and left an inscription in bronze letters

How should one speak of one's good deeds? A fellow a couple of thousand years ago, for instance, had his name cut into stone on the main square of the resort town of Terracina, on the approaches to Rome along the Appian Way, in huge bronze letters. Made

Archive · Mores · People · Humour

There is a memory of Lilya Brik, recorded by the poetess Anna Said-Shah, from when Brik was 86

There is a memory of Lilya Brik, recorded by the poetess Anna Said-Shah, from when Brik was 86. An Italian journalist who was visiting her at Peredelkino asked why she went to France rather than to Italy, which was every bit as good. Lilya replied that in Italy people

Observations · Mores · Society Pages · Humour

Spectators without masks in the stalls and Molochnikov’s remark about masks in the hall

As for antibodies, what stuck with me more was the remark of a stranger in the stalls, who explained why everyone (not quite everyone, of course, but the especially brazen) was going maskless. It is one thing when the Cossacks with their rifles go without masks: according to the text

NB! · Moscow · Observations · Society Pages · Humour

At the premiere of “Bulba

At the premiere of Molochnikov’s “Bulba. The Feast”, the ushers at the entrance to the auditorium of the palace on the Yauza thoughtfully inform guests that glasses are not allowed(

NB! · Archaeology · Art · Observations · Humour