Museums · Mores · Humour

An American in the early 20th century made himself jaws with coyote teeth from toothbrushes

In the early twentieth century a poor but resourceful American had no teeth, so he melted down two toothbrushes, shaped the plastic as required and made himself a new set of jaws with coyote teeth. When, in the 1940s, a professional dentist heard the inventor's story, he offered

NB! · Art · Humour

The Swiss artist Félix Vallotton (1865-1925) shows the respectful distance one is expected to keep when strolling through a wood

NB! · Archive · Moscow · Observations · People · Humour

Here is my beloved Alla Demidova at twenty

Here is my beloved Alla Demidova at twenty. She is not yet a student of the Shchukin Theatre School, but for now an actress of the Moscow State University student theatre under the direction of Igor Lipsky. Do correct me if I am mistaken, but I see a strong portrait

Art · Observations · Humour

I Usually Pictured Bacchus as a Hideous Fatty, More Like the Hedonism Bot from Futurama Than a Youth of Idyllic Beauty

I usually pictured Bacchus as a hideous fatty, more like the Hedonism Bot from Futurama than a youth of idyllic beauty. Tullio Lombardo's Bacchus and Ariadne force one to revise the customary view of the ancient god, who here truly looks divine. In this work by Lombardo one

Archive · Books · Paris · People · Humour

Turgenev was terribly afraid of cholera and often remarked on fresh outbreaks in his letters, describing in detail the situation in Paris and other European cities, asking after affairs in Russia, noting that people were dying like flies, reflecting how f

Turgenev was terribly afraid of cholera and often remarked on fresh outbreaks in his letters, describing in detail the situation in Paris and other European cities, asking after affairs in Russia, noting that people were dying like flies, reflecting how fortunate it was that nightingales do not catch cholera and

Art · Cinema · Humour

Works by Émile François Chambon and Stills from Gaidai's Film About Shurik, All Made in the 1960s

Works by the Swiss artist Emile François Chambon on modern lovers and stills from the film by the Soviet director Leonid Gaidai "Operation Y and Shurik's Other Adventures". Both date from the 1960s. Evidently this charming aesthetic of naive romanticism, of the builders of a new

NB! · Geography · Maps · Pop Culture · Humour

Reddit has produced a rather splendid and, oddly enough, fairly accurate map of France in the style of Super Mario

Reddit has produced a rather splendid and, oddly enough, fairly accurate map of France in the style of Super Mario. True, part of Lake Geneva has nonetheless been ceded to the Confederation

NB! · Humour

What Legs!

Observations · Mores · Humour

Recipe for English pigeon pie with truffles, quail eggs and port

I have two questions: when did you last go hunting, and do you know how to make a pigeon pie? It is no simple matter. Ingredients: 12 pigeon breasts, 450 g mushrooms, a few truffles, 12 quail eggs, salt, pepper, cloves and nutmeg, herbs, 1 glass of port, 1 glass

Museums · Pop Culture · Humour

Bear with a mechanism in the toy museum of the historic village of Penshurst in Kent

Just don't tell me this is not the most splendid bear you have ever seen. Paddington is not fit to hold a candle to him. This hard-drinking teddy lives in a toy museum in the English historic village of Penshurst, in the county of Kent, once owned

NB! · Books · Observations · Society · Humour

Svetlana Alexievich to the Studio

Svetlana Alexievich to the studio. The Nobel laureate doubts the nature of the coronavirus; might the epidemic, after all, have been caused by immunity weakened by 5G?

Faith · Art · People · Humour

Saint Eligius and Saint Godeberta in the 1449 painting by Petrus Christus

When you accidentally get caught in the reflection of someone else's selfie. It is commonly held that the celebrated painting of 1449 by the Netherlandish artist Petrus Christus depicts Saint Eligius, patron saint of goldsmiths, who served as goldsmith to the Frankish king Chlothar II and became Bishop