The India Series #1 - Pilot Baba

The man is Pilot Baba, so called because before he turned into a spiritual guru, he was a pilot with the Indian air force.

Pilot Baba is one of many spiritual leaders to be found among the millions of Hindu pilgrims at the Ardh Kumbh Mela festival grounds in the northern Indian city of Allahabad.

Pilot Baba, a Mahayogi and  revered Hindu spiritual leader, was known as Kapil Singh before he turned to spiritualism. He was a pilot of  the Indian Air Force and during the 1965 India-Pakistan war, he flew several sorties over Pakistani territory. Reports say his bombings killed many. But he decided to leave that life after he had a near death experience while flying a MiG aircraft in 1966. 

According to him when the controls failed he had a vision of his guru Hari Baba. He appeared in the cockpit of the plane and helped him land safely. After that experience he decided to become a Mahayogi and travel the world spreading the message of Love, Samadhi and Self realisation. His followers believe that Pilot Baba has special healing powers. He is famous for performing Samadhi, or death by interment. He claims to have buried himself in the Samadhi ceremony more than 100 times.

Generally dressed in a saffron sarong and a bright orange shawl, the only remnant of his air force past is a cadet's maroon beret he wears over his head.

New to the Collection at S.P.C.: Txapela's in Grey and Green!

New to the collection of txapela's at South Pacific Cowboy: the cotton Plato Grandes 35cm/13.8" in Green and Grey. 

Mocker in Burgundy Beret by Linda Kennedy

The artist was exploring the theme of broken marriages, broken lives and the pleasure some people find in gossip which only adds to the spiral of destruction. 

The mocker portrayed here represents people of ill will who maliciously enjoy other people's suffering; whereas the angelic baby points the way to healing. "A child shall lead the way." The woman's head is hung in sorrow and shame while her husband grasps her shoulder in a vain attempt to hold on. 
Kennedy uses a language of symbols to communicate this crisis of the family. 

The Bike Series #10 - Theresa Wallach

Theresa Wallach grew up in London and learned to ride much against her parents wishes. She competed in trials, scrambles and road racing. In 1928 she won a scholarship to study engineering at what is now the City University, London. 

In 1935 she undertook an epic journey from London to Cape Town. She, and her travelling companion Florence Blenkiron, were the first people (male or female) to cross the Sahara on a motorcycle. Her story of this amazing adventure has been published recently under the title "The Rugged Road".
In his biography Francis Beart, the ace Norton tuner recalls how Theresa walked into his workshop at Brooklands and asked if she could borrow his 348cc International Norton for the next weekends race meeting. He told her it would cost five pounds, which she didn't have but managed to borrow. When the day came it was pouring with rain but her lap was timed at 101.64mph - much to the annoyance of Beart's top rider, Johnny Lockett, who had never taken the machine to a 3 figure lap! Theresa's was one of the last Gold Stars awarded before Brooklands was closed down at the start of the second World War.
During the war she became the first woman despatch rider in the British army and spent 7 years in active service. 

After the war she spent two and a half years touring the USA with just a bike, sleeping bag and whatever fitted into her saddle bags. 32000 miles and 18 jobs later her bike was displayed at a motorcycle show in New York where she met Louise who introduced her to WIMA. Theresa returned to England, but within a year was back in the USA and set up shop selling, servicing and repairing British bikes, mainly Norton and Triumph. Another first - the only woman to own and run her own motorcycle business. She also gave motorcycle riding lessons and in 1970 published her book "Easy Motorcycle Riding". 

The early 1970s saw a decline in her business due to the influx of Japanese machines to the market and in 1973 she moved to Phoenix, Arizona to open a motorcycle riding school. Having never owned a car she carried on riding until she was 88 years old when sight problems forced her to give up her licence. Theresa maintained an active interest in WIMA right up until her death in 1998 aged 90. A truly remarkable woman.

Krikor Bedikian

One of the liveliest figures in Parisian art circles these days is an Armenian painter named Krikor Bedikian, who rejects all the artistic isms of contemporary Paris in favor of a strong, realistic style of his own. His guiding rule is one that he believes also guided the men of the Italian Renaissance: "Paint so that even illiterates will understand you."

Self portrait with white beret

Paris critics admit that Painter Bedikian, 44, knows his business, but most consider him an artistic reactionary, complain that "his work adds nothing to the general history of art." A small corps of Bedikian boosters disagrees. One enthusiast, writing in the financial daily, L'lnformation, has even called him "one of the great names of tomorrow . . . the heir to the old masters and the greatest modern painters."

Krikor Bedikian, Frau Beutler, Bruno Hesse, Karl Beutler

Bedikian has not always done that well. A serious artist since he was 15, he learned to draw with chalk as an orphan at a French school in Beirut, soon set out for Paris, doing sidewalk portraits along the way for carfare. In the early '30s, Bedikian spurned the schools and studied alone at the Louvre. He took odd jobs retouching photos for rent money, each night made the rounds of his friends' homes to be sure of a dinner. For eight years his only success was a single picture shown at the 1936 Beaux Arts salon, and that brought no whoops from the critics.

Ecce Homo

Modes & Masters. Everything changed after the war. Traveling in Switzerland, he persuaded a Lausanne gallery owner to show 40 of his paintings. Within a few weeks, all but three were sold, and the owner of the gallery bought the leftovers. A friend saw Bedikian's work, promptly bought his entire output for two years. With portrait commissions on the side, Bedikian has been able to consider himself a commercial success ever since. What he wants now is recognition.

New Zealand Berets at South Pacific Cowboy!

Basque Berets from the 'Land of the Long White Cloud', or Aotearoa?  Yes! Despite Kiwi's showing great affection for the American style baseball cap, there are still some hardline traditionalists to be found, sticking against the odds to Basque Berets, Tam-o-Shanters, Balmorals, Caubeens and Scottish Bonnets. 

What's more? Basque berets are actually made here, right in the heart of New Zealand, by Hills Hats in Petone by the Wellington harbour!

They go @ $26.95 (+ postage) from http://www.southpacificcowboy.com/berets-from-aotearoa.php.

More on Rugby and Berets

Further on rugby and berets: students from the University of Otago in New Zealand parodied on the test match between the All Blacks and the (French) Blues, which took place a few hours later during the 2009 Rugby Summer Tournament. 

They played in the nude, except for a beret and lots of body paint.

A great sight, especially since New Zealanders generally have a very uncomfortable relationship with nudity.

Desmond Dekker

Desmond Dekker (1941 – 2006) was a Jamaican ska, rocksteady and reggae singer-songwriter and musician. 

Together with his backing group, The Aces (consisting of Wilson James and Easton Barrington Howard), he had one of the first international Jamaican hits with "Israelites". 

Maxell 1980's Tape Ad

Other hits include "007 (Shanty Town)" (1967) and "It Miek" (1969). Before the ascent of Bob Marley, Dekker was one of the most popular musicians within Jamaica, and one of the best-known musicians outside it.

Thanks, Russell

The German Series #6 - Siegfried Lenz

Siegfried Lenz (1926) is a German writer, who has written novels and produced several collections of short stories, essays, and plays for radio and the theatre. He was awarded the Goethe Prize in Frankfurt-am-Main on the 250th Anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's birth. 

Siegfried Lenz was born in Lyck (Ełk), East Prussia, was a son of a customs officer. After his graduation exam in 1943, he was drafted into the navy.

According to documents released in June 2007, he may have joined the Nazi party on the 20th of April 1944. This was released with the names of several other well known German authors and persons, like Dieter Hildebrandt and Martin Walser. Shortly before the end of World War II, he defected to Denmark, but became a prisoner of war in Schleswig-Holstein.

In 1951, Lenz took the money he had earned from his first novel, "Habichte in der Luft", and financed a trip to Kenya. During his time there, he wrote about the Mau Mau Uprising in his history "Lukas, sanftmütiger Knecht". Since 1951, Lenz worked as a freelance writer in Hamburg and was a member of the literature forum "Group 47". Together with Günter Grass, he became engaged with the Social Democratic Party and aided the Ostpolitik of Willy Brandt. A champion of the movement, he was invited in 1970 to the signing of the German-Polish Treaty.

Thanks, Alex

Makonde Carving

The Makonde are the most accomplished carvers in Eastern Africa, living in modern day Mozambique and Tanzania, producing helmet masks in a highly naturalistic manner. 

Although this carved wood mask with the face in coloured ochre, blue pigment for the beret and the use of human hair is likely to be a unique model of a French sailor, it is still sculpted in the traditional style.

Circa 1920, Height: 23.5cm (9") 

Basque Berets against Depression and for Freshness

I should apply this 1950's ad to the berets I sell; buying a new beret is the perfect remedy to turn a depressed mood into a happy one, for me at least.

There are some more ads from this era that feature a beret, like this one here:

 or this beauty:

Labels (6)

More, in the on-going collection of beret-labels:

Li'l Gaucho

From WAToday.com

Machismo is no match for a little gaucho in a blue beret, writes Marian McGuinness. 

It was like an afternoon on the backlot of a spaghetti western. Mataderos, Spanish for slaughterhouse, is an outlying suburb of Buenos Aires where the colonial fringe butts roughly against the ring of shanty towns. It is as it sounds.

I half expected to see Burt Lancaster staggering down the wide-dirt road on his way to the O.K. Corral.

The white-washed, graffitied wall of the historic Mercado Nacional de la Hacienda, the enormous cattle market that for more than 100 years has serviced Argentina's beef industry, stretches along part of the Avenue Lisandro de la Torre. And this afternoon the street is lined with hundreds of excited people.

Proud, dressed-to-the-hilt gauchos sit astride their handsome horses. The gauchos are manly, toned and champing at the bit to prove their horsemanship in the Carrera de Sortija - the Race of the Ring - the traditional ride of skill dating back to the Spanish conquistadores.

Towards the end of the sanded road a tiny metal hoop dangles from the middle of an arched frame. Horses paw the ground. The gauchos eye the crowd and jauntily adjust their berets. They're checking out which young woman to present the sortija to if they're skilful enough to score one. Blood is pumping. Machismo fills the late summer air.

Horse and rider appear as one. Like a centaur, the gaucho waits his turn to race at breakneck speed, standing in his stirrups, left hand gripping the reins, right hand positioned to spear the ring with a pen-sized lance.

But it's not one of the manly men who wins the hearts of the girls on the sideline.

His name is whispered down the length of the road. Watched over by his proud uncle, a chico in a bright blue beret is jigging down the road on his piebald pony. His lance is tucked in his belt as he whips his pony to a gallop with a plait of cane.

His tiny boots hold firmly in the stirrups, his shirt sleeves are rolled up and his neckerchief swings on his tiny shoulders. He has the look of a cherub.

At three years old, Sebastian has been riding for just three months. It's his debut in the Race of the Ring, and he's already a master.

His uncle makes one last tug to his beret and then he's off. The Littlest Gaucho jigs towards the golden ring. The crowd is going wild. With one hand on the reins, Sebastian draws the lance from his belt and deftly skewers the prize.

Ole! The crowd erupts. The Littlest Gaucho raises the sortija high in victory. At three years old, he's not looking out for a beautiful maiden to present his trophy to.

He's too busy grinning from ear to ear. He's the most handsome gaucho-in-waiting.

How to dress French?

I fear this US made video wasn't meant to be funny, but I find it great entertainment!

Zara Phillips' Txapela

Strictly speaking, I am a subject of H.M. Queen E-II, but despite pledging loyalty to the Crown (to obtain a NZ passport), I know very little of the monarchs on their far-away island. 

Imagine my surprise when finding that one of them has actually taken to wearing a txapela! Ms Zara Anne Elizabeth Phillips, (born 15 May 1981) is the second child and only daughter of Princess Anne, Princess Royal and her first husband, Captain Mark Phillips. She is the eldest granddaughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and is twelfth in the line of succession to the British throne.

The Super Lujo's are IN!

Yes! Very happy to announce that the Super Lujo's have come in, just in time for the holidays. 
Whether you want to treat your father, husband, grampa, uncle, son, brother, neighbour, that distant relation overseas or yourself - you can't go wrong with this beret.

Berets don't come any better than this. The Boina Super Lujo is the top of the line of Boinas Elósegui; an extremely high quality beret in dense (heavy) Australian merino wool, impermeable (Teflon™ treated).  As with all berets from South Pacific Berets, these berets have no headband (leaving no sweaty imprint on your forehead, are easily pocketable and there is no guessing about size).

Sizes available are 12.5" and 14" - these are the Spanish standard sizes and equal resp. 29cm/11.5" and 32.5cm/13" and in the colours Black and Navy. 
All Super Lujo's carry the Euskalherria label. 

Shamus

These interesting pictures and words I found on David Estall's web site. No idea what the story 'behind it all' is, but they make good beret pictures.

I met Shamus today while I was out on my bike. He was wearing a Parachute Regiment shirt and beret, and smoking roll-ups while sitting in a Land Rover that was sprayed entirely gold, including the camouflage netting on the back and the shovel on the bonnet! 

Our conversation was more like a stream of consciousness from Shamus; a series of non-sequiturs that ranged from murders and train crashes to Charlie Chaplin and Cliff Richard, and interspersed with a rich variety of swear words! 

God bless you Shamus, you made my day! 

The Caddy with Jerry Lewis

The Caddy is a 1953 American film starring the comedy team of Martin and Lewis. 

The story centers around Harvey Miller (Jerry Lewis), whose father was a famous golf pro. He wanted Harvey to follow in his footsteps, but poor Harvey is afraid of crowds. Instead, at the advice of his fiancée Lisa (Barbara Bates), Harvey becomes a golf instructor. Lisa's brother Joe (Dean Martin) becomes Harvey's first client and becomes good enough to start playing in tournaments, with Harvey tagging along as his caddy. Donna Reed plays the wealthy socialite who Dean wins over.

Joe's success goes to his head and begins to treat Harvey poorly. They begin to quarrel and cause a disruption at a tournament and Joe is disqualified. However, a talent agent witnesses the spectacle and advices that they go into show business.

Harvey conquers his fear and they become successful entertainers. At the end, Harvey and Joe meet up with another comedy team who look just like them, Martin and Lewis.

Charlie Chaplin in 'Monsieur Verdoux'

Monsieur Verdoux is a 1947 black comedy film directed by and starring Charlie Chaplin.

The film is about an unemployed banker, Henri Verdoux, and his sociopathic methods of attaining income. While being both loyal and competent in his work, Verdoux has been laid-off. To make money for his wife and child, he marries wealthy widows and then murders them. His crime spree eventually works against him when two particular widows break his normal routine. The film ends as Verdoux is being led to the guillotine in the prison courtyard after dismissing his killing of a few as no worse than the highly-praised killing of large numbers in war.

The script for this film, the idea for it given by Orson Welles, was inspired by the case of serial killer Henri Désiré Landru. Welles sought to direct the film with Chaplin as star, but Chaplin backed out at the last minute, on the grounds that he'd never been directed in a full length film before and wasn't willing to start. Instead, Chaplin bought the script from Welles and rewrote parts of it, crediting Welles only with the idea. The lead character kills to make money, hence he is not (in his eyes) a murderer.

Another story suggests that although the script had yet to be written, Welles wanted Chaplin to play the lead role. Chaplin, deciding that he didn't want to have to write the script with Welles, opted out, saying in effect "If it isn't written yet, I'm not interested." After seeing the film, Welles insisted on receiving a screen credit for the story idea.

Thanks again, Francesco

Buster Keaton in 'Steamboat Bill'

Joseph Frank Keaton, known professionally as Buster Keaton (1895 – 1966), was an American comic actor and filmmaker. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".

Steamboat Bill Jr. (1928) is a feature-length comedy silent film featuring Buster Keaton. Released by United Artists, the film is the last product of Keaton's independent production team and set of gag writers. It was not a box-office success and proved to be the last picture Keaton would make for United Artists. Keaton would end up moving to MGM where he would make one last film with his trademark style, The Cameraman, before all of his creative control was taken away by the studio.

The director was Charles Reisner, the credited writer was Carl Harbaugh (although Keaton wrote the film and publicly called Harbaugh useless but "on the payroll"), and also featured Ernest Torrence, Marion Byron, and Tom Lewis.

The film was named after a popular Arthur Collins song, "Steamboat Bill."

The story concerns a young man straight out of college making good as a Mississippi steamboat captain, trying to follow in his father's footsteps, and falling in love with the daughter of John James King (Tom McGuire) who is his father's business rival.

Thanks, Francesco