NB! · Cinema · Observations · Humour

A reminder: the first fallen snowflake means it is time to rewatch Anastasia

Moscow · Observations · Society · People

Marshal Zhukov cremated and interred in the Kremlin Wall despite his family's request

Today is the birthday of Marshal Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov (1896-1974) When Zhukov died, his family appealed to the country's supreme leadership to have his body committed to the earth, as the Marshal of Victory himself had wished, but in vain: he was cremated, and his ashes were

Art · London · Moscow · Observations · Society Pages

First solo exhibition of London-based artist Nika Neelova opens in Moscow

And at Nika Neyolova's Show at the Voznesensky Centre the Parquet Has Gone Up in Arms. The first solo exhibition of the London-based artist of Russian origin Nika Neyolova, [Ъ] [Ы] [Ь], has opened in Moscow, curated by graduates of that very Garage and Higher School of

Three brown loafers on a gold tiered cake on a stand, with a handwritten French caption above.

Observations · Pop Culture

JM Weston window display with Mocassins 180 loafers on a gilded cake

I love it when even the footwear is served on a golden platter. The windows of the shoemaker JM Weston are, as ever, superb and not without irony

NB! · Observations

I Hope It Is Merely Clickbait

Rainy evening in Saint Peter's Square with a tall fir tree, the obelisk, the lit basilica facade and people with umbrellas on wet paving.

NB! · Faith · Observations · Rome

Christmas tree installed in Saint Peter's Square in Rome beside the obelisk of Caligula

A Christmas tree has been erected in St Peter's Square. In Rome, with its obelisks, one does not usually chase after the size of Christmas trees, though this one, I would say, is an impressive 25.5 metres, considering the forty-metre Vatican obelisk of Caligula

Medieval miniature of an armoured knight crawling on a sword across water towards a castle, with two lions on the bank and two figures at a window.

NB! · Observations · Humour

Lancelot crosses the sword bridge to a castle in a medieval miniature

It is Friday today, which means that many a Lancelot will be returning to his castle in roughly this fashion. Mind your swords!

NB! · Archive · Cinema · Observations · Humour

Forgive me if I am mistaken, but... is that the Green Knight from David Lowery's 2021 fantasy, doodled in the margins of the Glastonbury Cartulary?

NB! · Archive · Cinema · Observations · Humour

It looks as though Stanley Kubrick, on the set of 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1966, is serving the ball straight to Dmitri Shostakovich, who is playing catch with his son Maxim on a lawn in the 1940s

NB! · Monarchies · Observations · Humour

Queen Silvia of Sweden and Queen Letizia of Spain: quite simply my last two nerve cells this week

NB! · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

I look at this 1965 Balenciaga ensemble and try to work out the moment at which humanity took a wrong turning

NB! · Art · Observations