Archive · Observations · Education

In 1844 a student did not complete university over a Latin credit and went into service

Have you ever been expelled from university? I have. What stings most, by common consent, is when it happens over some useless, off-profile, run-of-the-mill subject. As in the case of our former student, a fellow traveller from 1844. A man who had shown a sound knowledge

NB! · Observations · Pop Culture · Humour

Shall We Talk About Reptilians?

Art · Cinema · Observations · Society

The Resnicks’ Water Holdings in California and the Plot of Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown”

I have read a most peculiar story about the Resnicks, an American family of billionaire collectors who have come into the public eye because of the wildfires in California. The point is that, besides an enormous art collection in Beverly Hills, which includes works by Fragonard, Boucher and Picasso, besides

Books · Monarchies · Observations · Society · People

Court to review Prince Harry's visa case again over details in the memoir Spare

Will Trump deport Prince Harry? A good, interesting question. The case concerning Harold's visa and the reliability of his visa documents is to be reheard in court. The story began with the ill-starred and scantly talented memoir Spare, after reading which the right people noticed a discrepancy

NB! · Observations

And what did you expect on the road to the Berezina?

NB! · Observations

Nowadays, open tabs have taken the place of all this

NB! · Museums · Observations · Paris

Do you know what odd thing I've noticed?

Do you know what odd thing I've noticed? At the Louvre, the free museum map handed out for navigation is never to be had in Russian. It is probably available in twenty languages, but not in Russian, one of the eight most widely spoken languages in the world.

Books · Observations · Humour

The author does not understand the admiration for a work by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

What I have never been able to understand is the raptures over Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and over his dullest work at that. It is rather like turning "Ryaba the Hen" into some sort of symbol of the age

A dark, glossy sculpture of an animal's head with closed eyes lies on a white marble table above a terracotta tiled floor.

Art · Observations · Nature

Sculpture of an animal's head with closed eyes on a marble base

Nicolas Darrot, The Great Bear. A beautiful but very sad sculpture

NB! · Observations

Pity the Poor Good Soul

Architecture · Observations · Science

In the French spa town of Rive-de-Gier, a glass pipeline appeared as early as the middle of the 19th century

I am not sure that such sewerage systems are in use today, but glass pipelines are employed in industrial production

Art · Books · Observations

Of a true official one cannot say that he is sometimes more of an official and sometimes less: he is always, and in full measure, nothing but an official

"The Castle", Franz Kafka. To my mind, this is the finest Kafka cover I have ever come across