London · Observations · Society · People · Humour

I know that many are still mourning the untimely death of the American judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but let us not pass by the darlings still among us, such as Baroness Floella Benjamin, who celebrated her 71st birthday in such a dazzling look…

I know that many are still mourning the untimely death of the American judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg, but let us not pass by the darlings still among us, such as Baroness Floella Benjamin, who celebrated her 71st birthday in such a dazzling look that, as Andrey Malakhov would say, "

A man with a briefcase leans towards the window of a black London taxi, with speech bubbles about Waterloo.

London · People · Humour

A passenger and a taxi driver talk about Waterloo, the station and the battle

A true story that befell Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, hero of the Second World War, in London, when he climbed into a taxi and said to the driver:. - Waterloo, please. - The railway station? - Of course. For the battle, it is a little late now.

Monarchies · Observations · Mores · People

In fairness, let us recall that the myth of the Potemkin villages became quite popular in the West from the very moment of Catherine II's legendary Tauridan journey, when a pamphlet on Potemkin-Tavrichesky appeared in Europe, in which…

Other sources also report on the Potemkin villages, but the notorious villages of painted plywood did not lead Catherine astray: this was the ordinary practice of adorning a monarch's route, just as was the building of sumptuous wayside pavilions for the Russian empress's halts. To begin

Archaeology · Architecture · Moscow · Heritage · People

Architect Alexey Ginzburg Speaks of Noble Plans for the Scientific Restoration of Buildings on Kolpachny Lane

Architect Alexey Ginzburg speaks of noble plans for the scientific restoration of buildings on Kolpachny Lane. He adds that he, too, would like the district not to lose its identity. Over the awkward matters, such as the eighteen-metre piles that will reach the cultural layer of the eighth century,

Coming Up · Architecture · Moscow · People

Jubilee exhibition of Naum Granovsky's photographs of Moscow open at the Lumière Brothers Centre until end of October

Until the end of October the Lumière Brothers Centre for Photography is hosting a jubilee exhibition of the architectural photographer Naum Granovsky, bringing together photographs of Moscow from the 1920s to the era of Soviet modernism. The book «Naum Granovsky 1920-1980» is also on sale there.

Archive · Books · Mores · People

There are two interesting and fairly popular texts on Leo Tolstoy's attitude to men, often read as proof of Lev Nikolayevich's homosexuality in his boyhood and youth

The first text is a diary entry of 29 November 1851, when Tolstoy was 23: “I have never been in love with women. <…> With men I have very often fallen in love: my first love was the two Pushkins, then the second, Saburov (?), then the third, Zybin and

Aristocracy · The East · Mores · People

General Yermolov's temporary wives and the fate of his illegitimate children

The marital history of General Yermolov and his so-called kebin wives, that is, temporary wives, in effect concubines drawn from the local population of the Caucasian territories occupied by the Russian army, deserves a tale of its own. Yermolov's first-born was borne to him by a

NB! · Cinema · Observations · People · Pop Culture · Humour

Hugh Grant turned 60 today, and, incidentally, he went into acting after a failed attempt to obtain a doctorate in the history of art

Hugh Grant turned 60 today, and, incidentally, he went into acting after a failed attempt to obtain a doctorate in the history of art. It must be admitted that humanity has lost a very handsome scholar

NB! · Observations · People · Humour

Profile portraits by Yan Tamkovich-Friske on sheets hung on a grid

Jan Tamkovich-Friske. This is the Snub-Nosed One. And I think I recognise her.

Art · Moscow · Museums · People

At the Exhibition "Not Forever" in the New Tretyakov Hangs a Portrait of the Diplomat Semenov with His Wife and Daughter by the Artist Dmitry Zhilinsky

At the exhibition "Not Forever" in the New Tretyakov hangs a portrait of the diplomat Semenov with his wife and daughter by the artist Dmitry Zhilinsky. Oil on chipboard and gesso. My attention was caught by the pointedly rich apartment of a high-ranking official, with costly canvases

Art · People · Humour

Humankind: Dürer, a Brilliant Artist

Dürer: That'll Do

NB! · Art · Observations · People

Beauty was stolen from the people and sold back to them under the guise of luxury: golden words from Sir Roger Vernon Scruton

Beauty was stolen from the people and sold back to them under the guise of luxury: golden words from Sir Roger Vernon Scruton. And yes, we miss you very much