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Observations · Education · Society
BBC website in Pidgin English compared with news services in simplified German
It seems the Anglo-Saxons have finally surrendered. At any rate, they have certainly surrendered their language. The BBC website has a version in English, or, to put it as gently as possible, in its Afro-ghetto variety. Try reading any news item in this dialect. It is as though
NB! · In the Press · Observations
It is very pleasing to see that, with the release of the fourth episode, my podcast has climbed to 15th place in the Russian charts!
It is very pleasing to see that, with the release of the fourth episode, my podcast has climbed to 15th place in the Russian charts! Thank you to everyone who is supporting it
The East · Art · Monarchies · Observations · Humour
Image of the Russian imperial couple by an artist who probably never saw them
Emperor Alexander I and Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna, Drawn in Japan. The august pair were captured by an artist who most probably never saw them and had not the faintest notion of their appearance, so that the realism of the portraits rests solely on pale skin and fair hair. I do
NB! · Art · Observations
A New Banksy in Marseille, on Rue Félix Frégier
NB! · London · Museums · Observations · Heritage
The British Museum is simply a whole mountain of random things that were carried off from other countries and cultures
The British Museum is simply a whole mountain of random things that were carried off from other countries and cultures. It only strengthens the view that being British is nothing to be proud of. The only thing that was British was the enormous queue at the entrance
Art · Observations · People · Humour
Damien Hirst compared a certificate for a future sculpture to futures trading
Damien Hirst Speaks of His "Posthumous Drawings" Project: Instructions for Making Works of Art That Can Be Produced and Sold in His Name After the Artist's Death. "The idea is to have a certificate saying: 'First year after Damien's death: you have
NB! · Archive · Art · Observations · People
I wonder who presented Vera Ignatyevna Mukhina with a scarlet rose?
Observations · Nature · Ethnography
Two explanations for the origin of the Malay word belanda for primates and the Dutch
In Malaysia and Indonesia the proboscis monkey, or Nasalis larvatus, is called the Dutch monkey, or more precisely simply the Dutchman, literally orang belanda. The curiosity has two explanations. The first is that with their faces these primates reminded the local population of the Dutch, who had once held colonial
Observations · People · Ethnography
New podcast episode on Svetlana Zharnikova and her theories
Friends! A new episode of the podcast is already on air! This time we talk about my darling Svetlana Zharnikova and her mad and brilliant theories You can listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Yandex Music, VK, Soundstream, Litres and on other platforms. Share your impressions, subscribe to the
Architecture · Books · Moscow · Observations · Reportage
Only in Moscow could this happen: you stroll along a boulevard of an evening and find yourself at an open meeting with a writer
Only in Moscow could this happen: you stroll along a boulevard of an evening and find yourself at an open meeting with a writer. Yesterday that is precisely what befell me. Passing the monument to Sholokhov, I heard Alexandr Tsypkin say something like "what if the cultural capital is
Moscow · Observations · Society · Saint Petersburg
Changing titles of the heads of Moscow and Saint Petersburg from the 18th century
Ever wondered why Moscow has a mayor, while Saint Petersburg has a governor? The titles of the highest officials in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation are governed by regional legislation. Both Moscow and Saint Petersburg are constituent entities of the Russian Federation, and each decides for itself what