Tea

With the many posts and references on this blog to coffee and berets, one could easily forget that one can drink tea too and wear a beret...

(Real) tea is an aromatic beverage commonly prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis, an evergreen shrub (bush) native to Asia.

Tea originated in Southwest China, where it was used as a medicinal drink. It was popularized as a recreational drink during the Chinese Tang dynasty, and tea drinking spread to other East Asian countries. 

Portuguese priests and merchants introduced it to Europe during the 16th century. During the 17th century, drinking tea became fashionable among Britons, who started large-scale production and commercialization of the plant in India to bypass the Chinese monopoly.

The term herbal tea refers to drinks not made from Camellia sinensis: infusions of fruit, leaves, or other parts of the plant, such as steeps of rosehip, chamomile, or rooibos. These are sometimes called tisanes or herbal infusions to prevent confusion with tea made from the tea plant.

Blue Berets Coffee

Being a bit of a coffee purist, I had to think twice about publishing a post on Nespresso-like coffee capsules...

The Australian Blue Berets coffee capsules are an alternative for the wasteful Nespresso originals; aluminium containers that turn to waste after one cup of coffee. 

Still, far from a substitute for the freshly ground Cuban beans by the Havana Coffee Works from Wellington; the daily fare in my espresso maker. 

After all, coffee comes with attitude, and a beret!

The Eiffel Tower & le Béret

With the béret, the Eiffel Tower is the most used stereotypical cliché where it concerns Frenchness.

 

The Eiffel Tower is a wrought iron lattice tower on the Champ de Mars in Paris, France. It is named after the engineer Gustave Eiffel; whose company designed and built the tower. 

Constructed from 1887–89 as the entrance to the 1889 World's Fair, it was initially criticized by some of France's leading artists and intellectuals for its design, but it has become a global cultural icon of France and one of the most recognisable structures in the world. The Eiffel Tower is the most-visited paid monument in the world; 6.91 million people ascended it in 2015.

The tower is 324 metres (1,063 ft) tall, about the same height as an 81-storey building, and the tallest structure in Paris. Its base is square, measuring 125 metres (410 ft) on each side. During its construction, the Eiffel Tower surpassed the Washington Monument to become the tallest man-made structure in the world, a title it held for 41 years until the Chrysler Building in New York City was finished in 1930. Due to the addition of a broadcasting aerial at the top of the tower in 1957, it is now taller than the Chrysler Building by 5.2 metres (17 ft). Excluding transmitters, the Eiffel Tower is the second-tallest structure in France after the Millau Viaduct.

The tower has three levels for visitors, with restaurants on the first and second levels. The top level's upper platform is 276 m (906 ft) above the ground – the highest observation deck accessible to the public in the European Union. Tickets can be purchased to ascend by stairs or lift (elevator) to the first and second levels. 

The climb from ground level to the first level is over 300 steps, as is the climb from the first level to the second. Although there is a staircase to the top level, it is usually accessible only by lift.

Vegamián

I have posted before on the "Despoblados", the forgotten towns that were submerged to create hydro lakes in the Spanish mountains under Franco's dictatorship - often a revenge on the "Reds" who lived there.

Vegamián is one such town and unlike many others, was not demolished or cannibalized before the water took over. 

In 1983 the lake had to be cleaned up (removing dead trees and other debris, so as not to block the turbines of the power station). What emerged under layers of mud was a village that was very much intact.

This (above) is the school; every brick still there, windows and roof in place.

 Above two neighbors of Vegamián in front of the Hermitage of San Antonio, below 'after the flood'.

Julio and Millán in what was their town:

Read the full article here. 

Zoro Mettini

Zoro Mettini (1949) is a Kurdish painter and sculptor, living in Germany. He was born in Syria, but because of politics, his family had to emigrate to Lebanon in 1964.

Mettini began studying with H. Hamwie at the Academy of Fine Arts in Beirut in 1969. He graduated with a diploma as a painter and sculptor. He then worked as an art teacher. In 1972 he was awarded the 2nd Prize of the American Academy of Art. In 1973 he worked as art director at the youth magazine Weekend and became a member of the Oriental Artists' Movement.

Since 1976 he lives and works in Berlin. He works as a lecturer at the Volkshochschule Steglitz for Painting and Sculpture.

In 1987, Zoro Mettini was awarded first prize by the Kunstamt Steglitz in a competition for a set design. In 1972 his work was attacked and destroyed at a group exhibition. In 1990 he received an award for his illustrations to poems by Nikolaus Lenau.

Adidas 2016 UEFA Cup Beret

A rare find: the genuine Adidas 2016 UEFA Cup beret! 

The 2016 UEFA EURO Finals were hosted by France, reason for Adidas to bring out an official games beret. 

Now largely sold out, South pacific Berets has now what is likely the last remaining stock of these berets - a rare find!

Made of a wool and viscose blend, these navy berets are fitted with a comfortable elastic tricolore headband and 2 x 2 airvents. 

The Adidas logo is embroidered on the lower half of the beret and attached are all labels stating it's origin and authenticity. 

Picasso Beret Painting sells for a Fortune in Sweden

Four works by one of the greatest painters of all time have been sold in Sweden for a small fortune, as international buyers jumped at a rare chance to own paintings by Spaniard Pablo Picasso.

The paintings were formally part of the Neuman Collection, a collection of artwork compiled by Swedish businessman Bertil Neuman, who died in 2011.

“'Fillette au béret', which dates from 1964, is a very typical Picasso painting. The painting is a portrait of a little girl wearing a blue beret, painted by Picasso in the 1960s, which fetched 26,215,000 kronor ($2.9 million). 

Thanks, Anders

Charlie Watts

Unlike The Beatles, the Rolling Stones never cared much for berets.

Paul McCartney

Paul McCartney and John Lennon were boineros at various stages of their lives; Lennon being quite an adapt. 

John Lennon

The only evidence I found of the Stones having some sort of relationship with the beret, I found in a very young (drummer) Charlie Watts:

Barretines Rock!

Those who thought that the Barretina, the classic hat of Catalonia, is outdated and only for those well over 80 are mistaken; the barretina rocks as never before in Catalonia!

The movement for Catalonian independence created a resurgence of the barretina, suddenly becoming a common side again on the streets of Barcelona and elsewhere in Spanish and French Catalonia. 

Street & Natural (Beret) Art

A celebration of berets in street & natural art:

Tin Man, Germany

Wire sculpture, France

Stone sculpture, USA

Sawing man, Netherlands

Jaunty berets sculpted by wind and rain, Turkey

House-number sculpture, New Zealand

Rock, Spain

Basque Beret?

Two years ago I published a post on the German (Nazi) Panzer Beret, a helmet cover that strongly resembled a Basque beret.  

However, these "berets" were nothing like the very large diameter Basque beret the soldier pictured above wears. No specific details available regarding date, location or background.
In size it appears to be a beret of the Chasseurs Alpins, but in detail (manufacturing) it clearly is not. 

Berets, Long Hair and Nigeria's Road Safety

Nigeria’s road safety organisation has disciplined a senior commander after he was filmed punishing female employees by cutting off their long hair. Photos showing the male commander taking a pair of scissors to the women’s hair at an inspection parade sparked outrage online.

There are rules governing the hairstyles of female staff at the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), but a spokesman said the officer’s action was “outside” the FRSC mandate. Lauretta Onochie, an aide to Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, condemned the haircuts as a “humiliation of women” in a post on Twitter.

Andrew Kumapayi, regional commander for the FRSC in the southern Rivers State, reportedly carried out the punishment at an early-morning parade in the city of Port Harcourt on Monday. He has not given any comment.

An official guide for female staff at FRSC parades says they must “maintain a hairstyle that can be tucked into their beret” but does not mention a ban on long hair.

Contemporary Hollywood Berets

Berets still do well in Hollywood. I actually find it surprising just how often I spot a beret in newly released films. Some are prominent, in the lead roll, some are seen somewhere in the background, others part of children's animations... but they are there!

Basic Instinct

Hampstead

The Pink Berets

Yoga-Hosers

Hugo

Despicable me