Observations · Education · Humour

Why no commas are needed in New Year wishes using the imperative mood

In case anyone else fancies making a New Year card in the spirit of "Pandemic go away! Wealth come!", no commas are needed, since names of persons and things used with the imperative in the sense of a wish ("let") are not forms of address. By

NB! · Monarchies · Observations · People

Incidentally, in June Prince Philip Mountbatten will turn 100

Archive · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

I never expected to bump into Nadezhda Babkina on Telegram, having last seen her on a bottle of mango-flavoured Pepsi in the company of Timothée

I never expected to bump into Nadezhda Babkina on Telegram, having last seen her on a bottle of mango-flavoured Pepsi in the company of Timothée. So far Babkina has only given RTVI an interview about some denunciations. I am certain that this time nobody asked her about so little-

NB! · Books · Observations

Nadya Obolentseva has asked an interesting question, but to my mind the choice is obvious

Nadya Obolentseva has asked an interesting question, but to my mind the choice is obvious. P.S. Both books go beautifully with the Hermès tea service ❤️

Coming Up · Art · Museums · Observations · Education

The Moscow Art Theatre Museum, together with the School of Historical Sciences and the School of Design of the Higher School of Economics, has prepared a multimedia online exhibition about Stanislavsky's legendary 1909 production of Turgenev's "A Month in

The exhibition is a journey through interactive locations recreated from the original sketches of Mstislav Dobuzhinsky, who was the designer of the 1909 production. And one can not only wander about the display but also interact with the principal characters of the play, and if not father children with them,

NB! · Observations

Imagine kissing such a loathsome thing for the sake of expediency and a welcoming tradition

NB! · Observations · Society · Humour

While @museumsnob and @KirillandhisFriends have received notice of their priority right to a free vaccination as workers in cultural institutions, I have been assigned to the sphere of TRADE AND SERVICES; thank heavens it was not the internal organs

NB! · Museums · Observations · Society · Humour

Quite right: if ration cards for sugar and butter are being brought back, one may as well book a museum visit by telephone, or better still, by telegraph

Aristocracy · Art · Observations · Mores · Education · Ethnography

Shorts in English dress since the 16th century and the habit of wearing them in winter

A snowy day, Ronald Lampitt. One can go endlessly goose-pimpled watching Englishmen, certain continental Europeans and Americans stroll about in shorts in winter. Some will write it off as plain folly, others will recall ancient traditions, still others will put the wardrobe at odds with the weather down to

Observations · Mores · Society · Humour

Convertible sofa of the 18th century at La Motte-Tilly and Soviet folding sofas

There was once a text about the Soviet passion for sofa-beds, which still haunts the hapless tenants of flats where a single room finds itself holding a bed, a sofa-bed and an armchair-bed, all against the backdrop of a carpet. For some reason there is a special

A moustached man in a white vest and white tights with pink trunks stands half-turned, one hand on his hip, against a dark background.

Art · Observations · Humour

Arthur Kampf’s painting “Artist”, created in 1907

In the old days men were men, not like now. The Artist, Arthur Kampf, 1907.

NB! · Observations · Humour