Nikolai Gogol – Leeds's Singing Organ-Grinder

London organ-grinding tweets for October 2017

Lukewarm barrel organ-ish ephemera from Hackney, London and thereabouts.

A bull attacks the first public train service in Russia, causing the ceremonial organ-grinder to teeter dangerously.

Where did Petersburg’s organ-grinders go in winter?

I fear only some of them migrated with the swallows. Featuring Boris Sadovskoy, Yuri Norstein, Aleksey Batalov, Rolan Bykov and Gogol.

The great Rolan Bykov in The Overcoat, with not an organ-grinder in sight.

A sensational 1810 Parisian fire scene on top of an 1840s Russian barrel organ

But who are the three noseless Austrian ladies?

Robert Hillingford, The Disaster at the Ball Given by the Austrian Embassy in Paris, 1810 (1897).

Children’s Crusade quote of the day

Plus Gogol topsy-turvy.

Shoe or foot fetishism in a 17th century Amsterdam brothel: <i>Le putanisme d'Amsterdam</i> / <i>'t Amsterdamsch hoerdom</i> (Amsterdam whoredom, 1681).

Invasion of the feet

A bouncer was standing outside a club when suddenly a horde of feet poured down the street and began squealing, “Let us in, let us in!” “This establishment’s non-discrimination policy doesn’t apply to autonomous human body parts,” he replied, “so fuck off.” But they began kicking at his ankles, and hopping up his legs to…

Spain, it’s the rooster’s bollocks

Ignorance helps the dart wander.