Pig Wrangling in Chile

Both trout fishing and pig wrangling are very far from what I would think of as my favourite pastimes, but the comments on berets on the blog of Dale Ratliff, are too good not to relate here.

"What ensues involves three guys, one older gaucho in a beret, two very excited farm dogs, chickens, a large angry wild pig, and lots of yelling. What you learn is that pigs are real fast, that dogs aren’t afraid of pigs but should be, that old chileans in berets rule, and that a good old fashioned pig wrangling is really the only way to end a day of fishing." 

Intoxicating Paris

Pamela PJ Adams is a psychotherapist and author living in California. 

"Are you interested in finding your inner Parisian? Intoxicating Paris: Uncorking the Parisian Within is PJ Adams's quirky journey through the byways, kitchens, shops, cafés, closets, boudoirs, and creative heart of Paris. Intoxicating Paris takes you through the ancient streets of Paris, where you'll find the secrets of creativity that inspired the likes of Hemingway, Hugo, and Rodin. And so it goes on and on...

Who would love this book? Style lovers, foodies, creative hearts, romantics, and anyone who simply loves Paris." No, not really the right book for me, even though I have to admire PJ for finding those few berets in Paris that can be found there these days...

Dawn Beret

Okay, not quite "beret" in the usual sense on this blog, but after some 2200 published posts on berets (and still counting), one has to be a little creative.

Dawn Beret was born in 1941 in Aldershot, Hampshire, England as Dawn Berrington. She is an actress, known for Victim (1961), Highway to Battle (1961) and Don't Bother to Knock (1961).

Long searches ended up to nothing, as far as her wearing a beret is concerned, but, with such a name...

Little Shu Qi with Red Beret

Pan Shuangshuang, or Mavis Pan, also popularly known as “Little Shu Qi”(1987) is a Chinese model and actress from Hong Kong. 

In 2006, a bossom-less and broad faced Mavis Pan was known as Pan Danshuang. Between 2008 and 2009, Mavis’ breasts started to grow (to the size of 36D), while her cheekbones became more pronounced and the film and modelling offers flowed in. 

Little Shu Qi starred in movies like Cannibal Grassi and Jagged Angels. 

Elliott Erwitt's Frenchman/men on a Bicycle

One of the best known photo's of a Frenchman wearing a beret (and the most stereotypical of Frenchmen too, for that matter, with a baguette thrown into the mix), is this photograph by Elliott Erwitt.

It is a nice photo, still, but I was quite taken by this more recent follow-up (photographer unknown):

Woody Allen in Company Man

Company Man is a 2000 comedy film starring a beret wearing Woody Allen.

In the 1960s, Alan Quimp is a schoolteacher of English grammar and married with the very demanding woman Daisy Quimp. In order to avoid the constant mockery in Daisy's family, Alan says that he is a secret CIA agent. Daisy tells everybody, the CIA acknowledges the lie, but due to a coincidence, Alan has just helped and hidden the professional Russian dancer Petrov who wanted to leave Russia. The CIA decides to hire Alan as an agent, to get the credits of bringing Petrov to USA, and immediately decides to send him to a very calm place, Cuba.

The film grossed a very poor $146,193 on a $16 million budget. Company Man received generally negative reviews, currently holding a 14% rating on Rotten Tomatoes; the consensus states: "A flat and misconceived movie with big stars."

L’étape du Berger

L’étape du Berger is a restaurant located at 2146 meters on the legendary Route du Tourmalet, one of France’s famous hikes, to the Pic du Midi in Bigorre (midi Pyrenées).

Roland and Juliette built the restaurant in 1969 and their children Françoise and Eric have continued the family tradition for 25 years. A tradition that at some stage will be taken on by son Sacha.

The kitchen is traditional for the area with lots of fresh produce from local small farms, cabbage soup, homemade charcuterie (sausages of the local black pigs, lamb, goat, ham) and heavy duty desserts.

During summer the place is accessible on foot (and by car), in winter by ski lift. You’ll encounter a good many berets…

Jean Abadie

Proud beret wearer Jean Abadie from Oloron Sainte Marie is a singer of traditional Béarnaise songs and the author of the book “Soùnque tau plasé de cantá", in the Béarnaise dialect (English: “To the Pleasure of Singing”).

It is a poetic and musical work, a collection of original songs from Béarn. The idea to write the book was born after a discussion with members of Biarn Toustem, an organisation that promotes Béarnaise culture and language. 

Radiator Cap with Beret

Ah, those days that cars had fancy radiator caps... And much better, in my humble opinion, than any Rolls Royce's 'Icarus" or Mercedes Benz 'Tri-Star', is this 1920's Lou Caddetou figurine, made of silver and bronze, at 14cm's height. 

Not only does it proudly depict a beret, but it has a moving arm too! 
The design is by Ernest Gabard (1879-1957).

Caddetou & Ernest Gabard

Ernest Gabard was born in Pau (Béarn)  in 1879 and died there in 1957. At a young age, he had the misfortune of losing his mother and father. Orphaned, he was raised by an uncle and aunt. His talents for the arts showed early and at age 17 his family allows him to join the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

He learned the ropes in the studio of Jules Thomas and also attended the studio of sculptor Auguste Rodin, but at the end of his apprenticeship, disappointed by the Parisian art world, he chose to return his native Béarn. Léon Bérard, said of him in 1954: " Gabard departs from the classical type of the sculptor ... He wanted to be a “Sculptor of Pau” ... and his work bears the stamp of the land ... "

He practices drawing, watercolour, painting, wood carving, stone and marble. Many of his works are located in Béarn and other parts of France’s Southwest.

For berets, he is best known as the creator of his comic book character, Caddetou, always portrayed wearing a beret, blouse, sabots (wooden shoes) and with umbrella.

After the Great War, he worked on numerous monuments to commemorate the dead, comrades of him from when he was active during the war. He also created a beautiful small notebook of 42 watercolours, portraying life at the front.

Hispano Basque - the New South Pacific Beret!

Almost six years ago, I had berets made under my own South Pacific Berets label, providing an alternative for the more expensive models made in France and Spain. 

Now, I have practically sold out of these berets and, as there is still a need for affordable but good quality wool berets, I started working on a new range of berets.

The result is the Hispano Basque range; made exactly according to my specifications, headband-less berets in three different colours (for now, more colours in the pipeline) and in a large variety of diameters.

The 'Hispano Basque' label is a vintage label of French origin that was popular in the 1950's and has now found a new lease of life.

This original Hispano Basque beret was recently auctioned in France. Approx. 1950's.

From today available here. 

Harmonious, Vibrant and Clear - Cicca Car Horns

Ads don't come any better than this really... 1926 ad for Cicca car horns.

A Cicca horn will precede your car and avoids wasting your time by accidents; so frequent when driving and at dangerous crossings. 
With the increasing intensity of traffic, and the crowd of novice drivers, it is unwise to make the journey without a serious and powerful horn. 
Your safety requires an electric "tenor" Cicca (easily installed at your local garage).

Tasmanian Painter Max Angus

Tasmanian painter Max Angus may be Australia's oldest living practicing artist, with a new exhibition to celebrate his 100th birthday.

Prolific landscape artist Max Angus celebrated his 100th birthday last month with an exhibition of his latest works.

The artist is still painting every week and will show a selection of works in Hobart the day after his birthday.

The celebrated artist is best known for his watercolour landscapes.

"As Monet once said, works done from nature have an immediacy and quality about them, that have a life scarcely ever attained in the studio," Mr Angus said.

Despite being 100 years old, Mr Angus does not have any plans to put away the paintbrushes.

He has been painting for as long as he can remember.

Max Angus, left, and sculptor Stephen Walker give their nod of approval to the new location of Walker's Tidal Pools sculpture on the foreshore at Sandy Bay.

How to be Parisian in Melbourne

When on one of my many internet searches for beret related material, it is amazing how many sites I find that advertise "being French", being Parisian", how to dress "like a Parisian"... Fascinating.

Melbourne model Marijana Radmanovich at bakery, South Yarra

I don't think they mean the banlieue of Clichy-sous-Bois, or other less romantic parts of Paris. No, it's this idea, or fantasy, of a romantic place where the sun always shines, the people wear berets and Breton striped shirts

 (I don't think they smoke Gauloises these days, like they did in this picture 20 years ago) and red wine and croissants are abundant.

Marijana Radmanovich at Anderson Street Bridge, South Yarra

A bit like this article in the Australian Herald Sun: 25 ways to be Parisian in Melbourne.

The Mystery of the Basque Language

The origins of the Basque language are still shrouded in history, but this video sheds a (little bit of) light on it, through facts, folklore and anecdotes. And there are a good number of Basque berets mixed in!

In Memoriam: Pieter Roskam

I have just learned about the departure of my good friend Pieter Roskam.

I have not known Pieter for long - it was our mutual passion for berets that brought us together, four of five years ago and since then, we have developed a strong friendship by correspondence - there being 20.000 kilometers between us. 

I got to know Pieter as a man of strong passions and being extremely faithful to those passions. One of these passions were berets, or more specifically: Bordeaux coloured berets. Well, everything about, or on, Pieter was Bordeaux - from socks to pants to jacket to beret. 

Pieter was a talented man; an artist, photographer, wine merchent, who managed to live a life with Asperger in a way that I can only admire: he stayed himself, did what he thought he needed to do and enjoyed life to the full. 

Pieter had been troubled by cancer for many years and took a very active role in fighting the disease, becoming an expert on various treatments himself. But, it was a loosing battle and we knew it. I am happy for Pieter to have gone in the way he did, confident and in peace.

It is the people who are left behind that will find it hard to accept he is no longer among us. I'll be wearing my Tarte Alpin in Bordeaux today...

Alone on the Range: Basques in Wyoming

Not many, but a few berets survived: Basques who migrated to the US.

Nice portrait of a Basque-US shepherd.

Vending Machine for Basque Berets

"A vending machine that cooks and gives out baguettes, that's practical!"
"Especially when you just went to the vending machine of Basque berets!" 

Stonemason Raymond Garcia

In 1939, the father of Raymond fled the Franco regime and moved to Bram, in the south of France.  In Spain he worked as a stonemason, but in France, like all other refugees, he accepted all the work he could get;  make raffia espadrilles, do masonry and work for the local. He had to wait eight years before he was joined by his wife and their two young children aged 11 and 8. Raymond Jr was born a year later.

It didn’t take too long for Raymond Jr to follow in his father’s footsteps as a stonemason (despite studying engineering for a while, but in the period before 1968, he found it easy to drop out).

Raymond is always dressed in his bright red beret with an Occitan symbol pinned to it. Here he poses for the barbeque he designed to roast 50 ducks at a time. 

Strange

These video clips are only two of many from this web site, a provider of commercials of some kind, but the deeper sense behind it is beyond me.

Strange things one finds on the internet...