Faith · Observations · People

Pope emeritus Benedict XVI, aged 94, remains the longest-lived pope in history

Do you recognise this elderly man with the meek gaze? The chief clue is the white robe. His Holiness Benedict XVI, now 94, may be Pope Emeritus, but he still always wears white, for he remains the Pope. At present Benedict is the longest-lived Pope in history. When he

NB! · Cinema · Books · Observations · Pop Culture · Ethnography

As for the images from "Quiet Flows the Don", I was reminded of Ulyana Sergeenko's 2019 collection, which was inspired precisely by this screen adaptation of the novel

As for the images from "Quiet Flows the Don", I was reminded of Ulyana Sergeenko's 2019 collection, which was inspired precisely by this screen adaptation of the novel. One can make out lace masks, prints on fabric with steppe landscapes, and headscarves

Cinema · Books · Observations · Ethnography

Aksinya and Darya veil their faces with scarves in the haymaking scene of “And Quiet Flows the Don”

Strange, really, that with the epidemic upheavals in fashion no designer has borrowed the manner of swathing the whole face in a headscarf from Aksinya and Darya in the haymaking scene of "Quiet Flows the Don". How elegant, and how wonderfully original! The text describes it simply, without

Books · Observations · Society

There will yet be accusations against the author from so-called patriots, who sit quietly in their corners occupied with wholly unrelated affairs, piling up little fortunes and arranging their own fate at the expense of others; but the moment something ha

There will yet be accusations against the author from so-called patriots, who sit quietly in their corners occupied with wholly unrelated affairs, piling up little fortunes and arranging their own fate at the expense of others; but the moment something happens that they consider offensive to the fatherland, some

NB! · Observations

Thank you

NB! · Observations · Pop Culture

So Many Years On, and Still Oreiro

NB! · Cinema · Observations · Humour

Here Katharine Hepburn is asking Zena a question

Here Katharine Hepburn is asking Zena a question. She looks rather serious about it.

NB! · Observations · Society · Humour

When the Ministry of Emergency Situations texts you about a yellow weather alert

Monarchies · Museums · Observations · Mores · Paris

Marie Antoinette's knitting needles are kept at the Conciergerie museum in Paris

Marie Antoinette's knitting needles in the Conciergerie museum, a former prison in the very heart of Paris. Marie Antoinette was fond of various kinds of needlework, knitting among them. It is known that, while in confinement, the Queen of France tried to carry on with her knitting in

An elderly man in white papal vestments with a pectoral cross sits in an armchair, with a microphone beside him.

NB! · Faith · Observations · Society · People

Pope Francis calls for universal prayer for peace in Ukraine

Pope Francis has called on everyone to pray for peace in Ukraine. Unexpectedly.

Cinema · Observations · Pop Culture

The Greatest Musician of All Time?

The greatest musician of all time? Mozart. One of his finest operas is "Don Giovanni". A pity that you cannot hear the hysteria of the audience at its staging in the Estates Theatre in Prague. But, happily, in 1979 Joseph Losey filmed a screen version that follows the