What A Wonderful Tattoo Book …

Geschrieben am 15. Dezember 2018 von Axel Thorer

That’s the unique book …

… and the author with a master

AN UNBE- LIEVA- BLE VO- LUME! A modern bench- mark book! Never done before in this com- plexity and irretrievable for another writer. The title: „Die magischen Tattoos of Myanmar“ – The magical tattoos of Myanmar (= Burma). The author: Prof. Dr. Jürgen C. Aschoff, a German neuropsychiatrist, tibetologist, photographer, author, publisher and antiquarian. It took him years to be accepted in the secret societies of the Burmese tattoo masters, to be able to study the antique (and not publicly shown) designs of the century old tattoo schools, and the be allowed to photograph the most fascinating examples of this Asian art and the tattoo masters at work. The book is in German only, but it contains hundreds of photographs and illustrations, 90 % never seen before. So you don’t need to master German to enjoy it. The ISBN code: 9783931997625. The price: 26 Euro (= ca. US$ 30).

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When In Paris, Enjoy The Coulee Verte!

Geschrieben am 28. November 2018 von Axel Thorer

A board over a rivulet …

… and even modern bridges

NOBODY I KNOW, KNEW ABOUT THIS GREEN OASIS! I found it by being late and looking for a shortcut – a case of good luck! The Coulee Verte is something strange: a garden on an old railway line, on a higher level, and sometimes you walk so high, you have the feeling of standing on a roof terrace! Just look at the photos I show you here: There are modern bridges over soft lawns and simple wooden boards over rivulet. It has grown over alleys and thickets which close out even the impression of Paris. The park is small on the city map but large, once you are inside. But Coulee Verte is not easy to find: In the east of the city, near the Place de la Bastille, the entrance is on the Avenue Daumesnil – and if you insist, you can almost walk to the Bois de Vincennes …

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I Met A Warrior From North Sentinel …

Geschrieben am 28. November 2018 von Axel Thorer

This is our book …

WHAT UTTER NONSENSE IS WRITTEN NOW ABOUT THIS LAST UNKNOWN TRIBE ON EARTH! Just because this American idiot, the missionary John Allen Chau, was speared to death on North Sentinel. My sympathies are with the warrior who did this – defending his world against an unwelcome intruder. What did this Mr. Chau want of these people, living for thousands of years in peace? Bring christianity? Become famous? Well, now he is dead. – In 1977 Prof. Heinrich Harrer, ex-king Leopold of Belgium and myself made an expedition to North Sentinel, sponsored by the Indian government (the Andaman Islands belong to India). We shipped close to the shore on a gunboat of the Indian Marine but a warrior shooed us away with bow & arrow. In a rapid action we surrounded the island and put present ashore – but they didn’t take it, well guided by their instinct. Later I have ghostwritten a bestseller for Heinrich Harrer, „Die letzten Fünfhundert“ (in German), describing our adventure and telling all information about the North Sentinelese, we could find – like no fire, no wheel, no name for themselves, no counting system and so on. What I read now, is all stolen from our book, which is never mentioned. But if you are able to read German, I strongly suggest you get it. And by the way: Harrer and Leopold later signed a pact with the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, that for the next 100 years nobody is to go near North Sentinel …

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Discover The Gaudy Dublin Doors!

Geschrieben am 8. November 2018 von Axel Thorer

Two doors, two neighbors, two colors …

… and the PR poster

WELL, WELL, WELL – I WAS IN DUBLIN MORE THAN ONCE, but these gayly painted doors never made an impression on me! But a few weeks ago I visited the Irish capital just for them, stimulated by the poster I show you here (issued by the city of Dublin as a tourist lure). Pretty views indeed, but the legends around them are even more colorful: 1. The British queen Victoria had ordered that all doors had to be painted black as a sign of mourning after the death of her prince consort Albert in 1861 – and as an act of rebellion the Dubliners painted them in all colors but black. 2. No, no, say some Irish, that’s not true. The doors were painted multicolored after a double murder by mistake, when a drunk, coming home in the early hours, found his wife in bed with her lover, killed them both – and discovered the next day that he had confused the doors and committed the killings in his neighbor’s house! To avoid future mistakes, the house owners (or the city council) decided on different colors for neighboring houses. Well, well, well – the Irish …

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Ever Heard Of Dimitri Berea?

Geschrieben am 8. November 2018 von Axel Thorer

Palma de Mallorca for US$ 22 000 …

I FOUND THE OFFER ON EBAY – and couldn’t believe my eyes: US$ 22 000 for a not so good painting by an obscure artist, plus US$ 195 for the shipping! A Romanian called Dimitri Berea did it, named it „Palma de Mallorca“ and while he lived (from 1908 to 1975) could only dream of such an exorbitant price. A gallery in New York sells the painting, oil on canvas, but it’s not very large, and I’m aware that an artist from Romania is estimated higher in Romania, painting local scenery, one from Peru in Peru, with Peruvian subjects, one from Abidjan in the Senegal, concentrating on West Africa – but there is absolutely no reason, that a work of Berea got a tag of US$ 22 000, and that was just the starting price! Berea can be looked up at Wikipedia, this helps a bit, his works are even in some museums, but mainly in his homeland and especially in Bucharest. In the rest of the world Berea is not a household name, and looking at this painting of his, I know why. I wonder if it sold but doubt it …

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No, That’s Not True, „Sobrino“ …

Geschrieben am 22. Oktober 2018 von Axel Thorer

The nice old facade of the „Sobrino de Boris“ in Madrid

IT’S WRITTEN AGAIN AND AGAIN! That Madrid’s „Sobrino de Botin“ on Calle Cuchilleros in the La Latina district was founded in 1725, never closed, and is older than any other restaurant around the globe! People believe it, go there for exactly this assumption, the food is excellent, no reason to regret the visit – and once you are seated they will tell you another hair raising story: That the painter Goya, young and poor, washed dishes in the „Sobrino“. Maybe, but there are definitely older restaurants in earth, especially in Japan and Germany, and the Austrian St. Peter Stiftskeller in Salzburg (celebrated in an earlier post of this Blog) was opened in 803 and is therefore almost 1000 years older than the „Sobrino“! Sorry, folks, but go on telling whatever you want …

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Are There Still Inka left?

Geschrieben am 22. Oktober 2018 von Axel Thorer

The Inka reign ...

The old Inka ...

... and their descendants

AFTER THE DEVASTATING VISIT OF THE SPANIARDS – and especially the Catholic Church, they disappeared. But in 1955 some descendants of the Inka were discovered by an ethnological expedition near Cuzco in the province of Paucartambo. Their villages are situated as high up as 4700 meters, that’s the main reason why they managed to hide for so long, and they live in traditional houses, not much different from the conditions of their ancestors, 600 years ago. They kept traces of their original religion and language, are crop farmers mainly and are estimated to be 2000 heads strong, dispersed to 14 villages. Their vocal memory of the glorious – and terrible – past is very vital and delivered from generation to generation. To grant them an easier live is discussed by the Peruvian government, bit the Q’ero resist any attempt to re-populate them in other parts of the country.

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Jump The Lines in Florence!

Geschrieben am 22. Oktober 2018 von Axel Thorer

That's the FIRENZECARD ...IT LOOKS LIKE A CREDITCARD, it’s red, expensive – and very comfortable! The FIRENZECARD is issued by the Segnoria, the town council, and if you got it, it allows you the visit all that’s worth seeing for free. But that’s not the point, because the card costs 85 Euro and you wouldn’t pay more by entering with the regular tickets. BUT – having the card you are allowed to jump the waiting lines, and they are the pest of the visitors in Florence!!! It can happen that you stand in line over an hour at the doors of the Uffizi. With the card you enter at your own will. 85 Euro (= app. US$ 95) is a fat amount of money and the card is valid 72 hours only. But it safes you precious time – and probably the whole visit. And don’t be impressed by the protests of the people in the waiting lines, just show them the little red miracle card …

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Louis Vuitton Is Attacked …

Geschrieben am 30. September 2018 von Axel Thorer

A Godard bag in grayish blue ...

THE MATERIAL IS MORE OR LESS THE SAME, but the design is different. The bags seem being simpler to me, also a bit more decent, which a lot of real ladies prefer. I discovered Goyard in a boutique in St Tropez – or not, since all the bags were sold out, I saw the displays only. But later in the day I found the one I show here and bought it. Not that Goyard is much cheaper: A bag like the one here costs roughly 1200 Euro in the licensed shops. But in the street they sell in for less, you have to deal for the best price – and 200 Euro is possible. How that’s possible, I don’t know and I don’t want to know. What I know for sure, is that Goyard is chic, has a vast variety of objects and it’s always worth to browse the internet – in the way one should browse the street markets …

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What A Hilarious Website!

Geschrieben am 30. September 2018 von Axel Thorer

That's the head of the pretty – and entertaining – website ...

GO TO BANKNOTES.COM (yes, it’s an easy adress) AND LOOK FOR THE CROOKS! Go to the bottom of the first page, there you will find „Hall of Shame“, click it – and you will enter half an hour entertaining reading. The following individuals or companies are not just dishonest swappers, traders, collectors who do not send their share to their clients. Many of them are hardcore criminals, such as scammers, thieves, fraudsters, crooks, who are making a „living“ by cheating, scamming and defrauding collectors and dealers. On this page anyone is posted who will cheat, scam or defraud, including delivered but unpaid orders, credit card & check fraud, electronic shoplifting, other activity, such as unreasonable chargebacks, and chargeback-fraud etc. I have the feeling that to publish all those details concerning suspected individuals is highly illegal, but there is an enormous amount of careful research behind each story and the longer I browsed it, to more fun I had …

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