Observations · Society · Humour
The more time you have to complete a task, the more time it will take
Parkinson's Law
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Observations
Books · Observations · Society · Humour
Prince Andrey and Speransky on the Commission for Drafting Laws and Lawmaking Today
The Commission on Laws has existed for a hundred and fifty years, cost millions and accomplished nothing. Do you remember when Prince Andrei did not wish to join the commission for the drafting of laws, pleading that it required a legal education, which he did not possess? And Speransky, who
Faith · Observations · Mores · Society
Pope Francis voices concern over priests and nuns viewing pornography online
Pope Francis has expressed concern that many priests and nuns use the internet to watch pornography. The Pontiff urged his brothers and sisters to be more wary of diabolical temptation. The Catechism of the Catholic Church defines, in so many words, the exploitation of sexual images as an offence against
NB! · Observations · Humour
My compliments to the person who came up with this
The East · Monarchies · Observations · Mores
Eleanor of Aquitaine, the chess queen and the widening of the queen's moves
When in chess the Ferz, meaning vizier, is called the Queen, this alludes to Eleanor of Aquitaine, mother of Richard the Lionheart, who is often named as the initiator of the chess reform that changed the name of the ferz. The photograph shows a chess figure of a queen from
NB! · Art · Observations
I dream of a kitchen with a view from the window, like the one in this 2017 painting by Jennifer Diehl
Faith · Observations · People · Humour
Edmund Waldstein, son of theologians, and the story of the kiss from Pope John Paul II
There is a popular story about a child who grew up to become a Catholic priest after being kissed by Pope John Paul II. It is usually shared as a headline and a photograph in which the Pope brings his lips to the head of an infant. One would not
NB! · Art · Observations · Education · Humour
Perhaps everyone has seen this already, but the crib sheets of a Spanish student at the University of Málaga, published by his lecturer, really do look like a work of art
Archaeology · Observations · Ethnography · Humour
Serpent Stone from the Roman town of Alauna in Britain, with Celtic and Roman symbols
Good morning! Here is the so-called Serpent Stone from the Roman civilian settlement of Alauna in Britain. The meeting of Celtic traditional beliefs and Roman symbolism looks for all the world like Aesculapius' serpent that has failed to coil itself around a phallus of considerable girth. Such stones
NB! · Art · Observations
Van Gogh and Rembrandt as a subject for reflection on painting
Van Gogh and Rembrandt. Food for thought
Cinema · London · Monarchies · Observations
The 1992 Windsor Castle fire and how it is depicted in the series “The Crown”
Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce as the royal couple in the drama "The Crown" are certainly splendid, but during the November 1992 fire at Windsor Castle Prince Philip was presiding over a World Wildlife Fund congress in Buenos Aires and, however much he might have wished it, could
Coming Up · Art · Museums · Observations · Saint Petersburg
The “Zertsalo” exhibition on Russian provincial portraiture of the 18th and 19th centuries at the Manege
A remarkable exhibition of Russian provincial portraiture of the 18th and 19th centuries, "Zertsalo" ("The Mirror"), is on at the Manege in Saint Petersburg. Although most of the artists and most of the faces portrayed remain unknown, the curators have managed, within these terem chambers, to