Faith · London · Observations · New York · Society

Growing number of conversions to Orthodoxy among Americans and the English

Not only America but England too is turning its gaze to Orthodoxy, which means the programme to destroy the Christian religion in the Anglo-Saxon world has misfired. Remember the episode of "The Simpsons" in which Homer and Bart become Catholics, and Marge frets that they will make

Still life with a white two-handled cup of water on a metal plate and a pink flower beside it against a dark background.

NB! · Art · Observations

A cup of water and a pink flower in a painting by Francisco de Zurbarán

Good morning from Francisco de Zurbarán. Let us begin the day quietly, with thoughts as plain as a mug of water and a mood like a tender pink flower

Archive · In the Press · Observations · Humour

In the Western press, Lenin is stubbornly called Nicholas in the 1920s, in the 30s, and even in the 50s and 60s

For example, The Times Record in March 1953, in a piece on the death of Stalin, publishes a photograph from Lenin's funeral, with the caption: This scene shows Nicolai Lenin lying in state at the House of Unions in January, 1924, His wife, Krupskaya and sister Maria stand

NB! · Books · Observations · Education · Society

A new list of patriotic works by contemporary writers, recommended by the Ministry of Education for extracurricular reading: Zakhar Prilepin is on it, naturally

NB! · Observations · Nature · Humour

These horses are sunning themselves this summer on behalf of all of us

Faith · Observations · Heritage · Mores · Society · Pop Culture · Rome

Vatican police escort a blogger out of St Peter's Basilica and attempt to arrest her for dancing inside the church and filming it

Vatican police escorted out of St Peter's Basilica, and attempted to arrest, a blogger who had been dancing inside the church and filming it. The silly girl, naturally, at once raised a howl about it online. Each time I see activities of this sort, I want to ask:

NB! · Observations

Thank God for That!

Cinema · London · Observations · Pop Culture

Tarantino prepares a play for London's West End and leaves Israel

Quentin Tarantino has announced that his next major project will be a stage play. He plans to present the production on the stage of a London West End theatre. The text of the play is already finished, but active work on the staging will begin in early 2026 and will

Art · Museums · Observations · Paris · People · Pop Culture · Reportage

Paul Poiret as an artist and creator of fashion's visual world at an exhibition in Paris

As promised, I return to my report on this season's fashion exhibitions in Paris. The large retrospective of the work of Paul Poiret will interest not only lovers of the history of costume, but indeed anyone enthralled by fashion and style. The exhibition at the Musée des Arts

NB! · Cinema · Observations · Humour

Imagine, in 1939 people were saying: "Why do we need another adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, when we already had one 14 years ago?"

Observations · Society

It is odd that the President of Finland, sitting before Trump, recalls that the Finns found a solution in 1944

It is odd that the President of Finland, sitting before Trump, recalls that the Finns found a solution in 1944. After all, in the autumn of 1944 Finland, which had fought on the side of Nazi Germany and had been defeated by the USSR, first entered into negotiations on a

Faith · Madrid · Observations · Society · Paris

Removal of crosses from posters, emblems and images of churches in Europe and Russia

Crosses vanish from Montmartre on Paris Olympics posters, crosses are removed from the badges of European football clubs, and in Spain a proposal has been made to pull down the monumental cross above the Valley of the Fallen. In Western Europe the wave of “de-crossing”, fuelled by embittered anticlericalism,