Faith · Science · Society

Texas Bishop Joseph Strickland signs open letter against vaccination

An open letter by Catholic bishops against vaccination has appeared online. Of course, the letter of 12 December bears the signatures of only a small group of far-right Catholic figures, yet not only the church leadership but perhaps even some secular authorities ought to look closely at this démarche.

NB! · Observations · Society · Humour

While @museumsnob and @KirillandhisFriends have received notice of their priority right to a free vaccination as workers in cultural institutions, I have been assigned to the sphere of TRADE AND SERVICES; thank heavens it was not the internal organs

Architecture · Moscow · Heritage · Society

Khamovniki may get a 100-metre residential complex and a higher permitted building height

Will the cosiest district in Moscow turn into yet another cluster of glass skyscrapers? In Khamovniki, at the junction of Rossolimo Street and Olsufyevsky Lane, a residential complex a hundred metres tall may be built. That is 30 metres higher than the bell tower of the Novodevichy Convent. The house

NB! · Museums · Observations · Society · Humour

Quite right: if ration cards for sugar and butter are being brought back, one may as well book a museum visit by telephone, or better still, by telegraph

Observations · Mores · Society · Humour

Convertible sofa of the 18th century at La Motte-Tilly and Soviet folding sofas

There was once a text about the Soviet passion for sofa-beds, which still haunts the hapless tenants of flats where a single room finds itself holding a bed, a sofa-bed and an armchair-bed, all against the backdrop of a carpet. For some reason there is a special

Architecture · Books · Moscow · Science · Society

Literary critic and editor of the magazine "Znanie-Sila" Olga Balla writes that this Saturday the editorial office is being evicted from the seventeenth-century chambers on Kozhevnicheskaya Street, where it had been based for several decades

Literary critic and editor of the magazine "Znanie-Sila" Olga Balla writes that this Saturday the editorial office is being evicted from the seventeenth-century chambers on Kozhevnicheskaya Street, where it had been based for several decades. The magazine itself has existed since 1926 and is one of

NB! · Museums · Observations · Society · Saint Petersburg

Queue at the Kunstkamera on a free admission day at the peak of coronavirus infections

A queue for the Kunstkamera. The museum has thrown open its doors free of charge at the very peak of the coronavirus wave. Colleagues, are you quite sure this was the right decision? Does nothing give you pause?

Observations · Education · Society

The struggle against the revision of history and the want of patriotism could not logically fail to widen the domains of censorship and to prompt attempts to regulate the various branches of intellectual activity

The struggle against the revision of history and the want of patriotism could not logically fail to widen the domains of censorship and to prompt attempts to regulate the various branches of intellectual activity. A law is now being pushed through on what enlightenment may be and what it may

Moscow · Museums · Observations · Society

The news dates from the end of November, when one could still visit museums after a fashion, but all the same: ticket revenue at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts

The news dates from the end of November, when one could still visit museums after a fashion, but all the same: ticket revenue at the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts fell by almost 70% in 2020 compared with the previous year. What are other museums to do, those without

Coming Up · Moscow · Observations · Society

Among the forthcoming cultural events, I have noted the musical production by Evgenia Berkovich, "Esther's Black Book", which the Brusnikin troupe will perform at the Boyar Chambers on 9 and 11 December

Among the forthcoming cultural events, I have noted the musical production by Evgenia Berkovich, "Esther's Black Book", which the Brusnikin troupe will perform at the Boyar Chambers on 9 and 11 December. The staging is devoted to the theme of xenophobia; the action unfolds outside time

Mores · Society · Nature

Ban on henbane in beer under the 1516 Purity Requirement in Germany

Until the 16th century, black henbane was added to beer in Germany, which induces hallucinations and euphoria and, should the dose be increased, death. In 1516, on account of the large number of fatal intoxications, the Purity Law was adopted, which strictly regulated the recipe for beer and forbade the

Architecture · Observations · Heritage · Society

The 1902 column in central Kolomna, a gift of honorary citizen Shevlyagina, still works

A standpipe of 1902 in the centre of old Kolomna still works; its decorative panels record that this vital item of civic improvement is a gift from the hereditary honorary citizen Shevlyagina. In every age there has been no better way of leaving a good memory of oneself than to