I love so many things about this page, including the fact that the 80s lasted a very long time, apparently. I also want to know what was going on in 2017.
eu.daleofnorway.com/explore-dale...
I am writing a short piece about dacha-going and it taking so much will not to make a reference to Russians coming to the cottage.
Ugh. Completely unsurprising, but ugh.
This is WILD. So many things! Folk tales! 19th century literature! An explanation of Tarkovsky's films! Why trees have leaves!!
OMG. A filmstrip explaining Tarkovsky's films!! archive.org/details/Diaf...
Would really really really love to see the 2026 version of Miliukov standing up in the Duma and giving the βis this stupidity or is this treasonβ speech.
Ha, I got bougie which is maybe actually accurate but hurtful.
Photograph of a desk with a laptop computer, a water bottle, and two knitted chickens.
Emotional support chickens, ready for exam-weeks duty.
Ugh.
Sir James Harris, British envoy to St. Petersburg, in a letter back to London, May 24/June 4, 1779.
βOn the other hand, to those who reside in this Empire, and who perceive the unaccountable and imperfect manner in which all their plans are traced, and the improper instruments selected for their execution, it must be a matter of astonishment that they do not fail in everything they undertake.β
βTo those who live out of Russia, and who only can form their judgment of it from the great events its interference and weight everywhere produce, it must appear as if it was conducted with superior judgment, and defective in no one essential point of its government.β
βThe lead this Court takes in all the great transactions of Europe; the successes which attend every part of its public conduct, and at the same time the supineness and insufficiency of its administration, are facts so seemingly incompatible that, in a future day, they must appear incredible.β
One of Catherine the Greatβs grandsons, when aged about nine, asked this about someone: βIs he a real genuine Briton? Does he appear frightened when he enters a room where there is any company? Is he at a loss where to put his hat, when he is so polite as to take it off?β (Reported by Swinton.)
Great postdoc opportunity at University of Toronto! (It's super competitive but possible!) www.artsci.utoronto.ca/faculty-staf...
Now available (open access!): the article I might not have written had I not been department chair, on eighteenth century Russian rulers trying to stop people asking them for things. (Also on how autocracy works, should that be of current interest SIGH.)
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
My music group commissioned a piece by Beverley McKiver; she was inspired by the lost rivers of Toronto and wrote us a truly lovely piece: youtu.be/FcAnjaFS9Us?...
Excellent description of Cyrillic from a 19th century American traveler: "the letters are all drunk and run the wrong way, like lopsided crabs."
Whew, Belinsky when he realizes he can't actually find rationality in the world around him is too relatable:
"I am weary, cold, and empty. I have no hope of any personal happiness. Woe! Woe! Life is exposed."
There is still an awful lot of awful out there, but gosh I have enjoyed Chicago Pope day.
Amazing.
He then later shared the news report that Lavrovβs gift to the new president was going to be a lap dog.
Once again, I am reminded of the archive security guard who, in fall 2016, asked me who I was going to vote for. Before I could answer, he said βyouβre probably going to say Clinton, but Trump would be better for Russia.β
Also I honestly did not realize how much of a problem wolves were in nineteenth-century Russia.
I wish I could say that surprised me but it totally doesn't -- it really was!
I'm reading through 19th century mortality reports and holy shit we are so lucky to live in a world of modern public health. Why the hell would anyone want to go back to that? It is infuriating.
Boris Nemtsov was assassinated 10 years ago today. The street outside the Russian embassy in Washington D.C. was renamed in his memory - a move instigated by a senator determined to hold the Kremlin accountable for its crimes. I wonder how he thinks that's going. www.voanews.com/a/us-bill-wo...
Portrait of a man made out of books! Several small books make up his face, with ribbons indicating his ear. A splayed open book is his hair/hat. A large red book makes up one upper arm, with a white and cream book with ribbons hanging out the end serving as lower arm and fingers. A blue/gray drapery behind serves as a cape.
I knew Arcimboldo painted fruit/vegetable portraits but a BOOK portrait?? Amazing. I could not love this more.
Source: samlingar.shm.se/object/465F6...
Photograph of a piece white on white embroidery in the shape of a star with flowers and vines around the edges; the star is divided into many smaller triangles each with its own stitch pattern.
Today I stumbled on this stunning piece of... embroidery? I think that's the best word for this kind of needle art? ... made by Maria Christina Frosterus in UleΓ₯borg/Oulu Finland, 1820, in the collections of The National Museum of Finland. I love it.
