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Architecture · Observations · Heritage
Restoration of the Parthenon's west frieze and the threat of acid rain to marble
Once again the question hangs in the air: should monuments of ancient history be refreshed, and to what degree? The west frieze of the Parthenon has been restored. This is how it looks now. What is the difficulty with marble antiquities? Marble is destroyed by acid, and acid rain, the
London · Monarchies · Observations · Mores · Humour
Vetoshkin, not Gagarin, ate the tea lemon at Elizabeth II's reception in 1961
On the well-worn anecdote about how at Queen Elizabeth II's reception in 1961 Yury Gagarin, having drunk a cup of tea with lemon, fished out the slice of lemon and ate it, there is one clarification. Such an incident did indeed occur, but the man in question
Moscow · Observations · Society · Nature
Some time ago I fought, without success, the wretched municipal services over the mixed-herb lawn beneath my windows, home to birds and insects, but in the end it was mown, dug up, stripped of its fertile topsoil and covered with the belch…
Some time ago I fought, without success, the wretched municipal services over the mixed-herb lawn beneath my windows, home to birds and insects, but in the end it was mown, dug up, stripped of its fertile topsoil and covered with that belch of anthropogenic bad taste: turf in rolls.
NB! · Cinema · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour
Why the ring straight away?
Why the ring straight away? Better we destroy Pendalf's gizmos
NB! · Observations
But Really, God Forbid, of Course
NB! · Archaeology · Museums · Observations · New York · Humour
It seems the Metropolitan Museum's holdings have yielded the answer to how a centaur wears trousers after all, courtesy of a bronze statuette of a centaur and a man from 750 BC
It seems the Metropolitan Museum's holdings have yielded the answer to how a centaur wears trousers after all, courtesy of a bronze statuette of a centaur and a man from 750 BC. Or is this the wrong sort of centaur?
Interviews · Observations · Society · People
Pierre Nora in a 2011 Interview on Regional Languages and the 2008 Constitutional Reform
In 2011 the distinguished French historian Pierre Nora gave an interview to the Russian scholar of identity, Doctor of Historical Sciences Elena Filippova, and touched upon a subject of some interest in present circumstances: the French constitutional reform of 2008. I give an abridged extract: “A good example, which I
NB! · Observations · Humour
When One Tries Too Diligently to Keep Pace with the Times
NB! · The East · Monarchies · Observations · Mores
I do not know what exactly is going on, presumably some seasonal ceremony, but this procession with the King and Queen of Thailand looks very solemn and stylish, apart from the absolute relic of the ryndas with their parasols, of course
Architecture · Moscow · Observations · Heritage
Pertsova apartment house on Prechistenskaya Embankment, its present condition and fate
A fairy-tale terem on the Prechistenskaya Embankment, the Pertsova tenement house for gifted artists, is now in the use of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As you can see, one of the landmark buildings of early twentieth-century Moscow is not in the best of states: tiles keep dropping
The East · Observations · Society
Uzbekistan Promises Foreign Tourists 3,000 Dollars if They Contract Coronavirus
Uzbekistan offers foreign tourists $3,000 if they catch coronavirus during their stay in the sunny republic. Tourism occupies an important place in the country's economy, and the lockdown has had a serious effect not only on the well-being of enterprises in the sector but on a