Escargot

Dashka Slater is a journalist, a bestselling young adult writer, and a middle grade and picture book author. 

Escargot is a beautiful French snail who wants only two things:

1. To be your favorite animal.
2. To get to the delicious salad at the end of the book.

But when he gets to the salad, he discovers that there's a carrot in it. And Escargot hates carrots. But when he finally tries one―with a little help from you!―he discovers that it's not so bad after all.

Pierre Jamet

Pierre Jamet (1910-2000) was a singer (the tenor voice in Les Quatre Barbus), active outdoorsman, and above all – the gifted photographer who so brilliantly captured young French people enjoying their country’s hillsides, lakes, and seashore during the 1930s.

Pierre Jamet would photograph children and families on the roads of France, in youth hostels and summer resorts, during the leftist political period of the Popular Front, late 1930s.

Jamet actively participated in Léon Blum’s anti-fascist Popular Front, which swept to power in 1936.

The Popular Front and the youth hostel movement sought a “renewal of liberal political practice at the grassroots level in response to the rise of far right movements and the economic crisis in the early 1930s. The Popular Front was a combined revolt of the working class against and the youth against a social order that prevented them from playing any significant political role. The idea of youth, expressed through the ever-important word Jeunesse, was endowed with a number of meanings, both symbolic and real, and played a fundamental role in the orientation of the Popular Front’s policies.”

The hostels challenged pre-existing social and political structures, questioning patriarchy, gender, race, religion and national identifications in a concerted effort to reject fascism.

Gabriela Mistral

Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (1889 –1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral, was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist.

In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Literature, "for her lyric poetry which, inspired by powerful emotions, has made her name a symbol of the idealistic aspirations of the entire Latin American world". Some central themes in her poems are nature, betrayal, love, a mother's love, sorrow and recovery, travel, and Latin American identity as formed from a mixture of Native American and European influences.

Her portrait also appears on the 5,000 Chilean peso bank note.

Flea-market Zwolle

The beret (or in Dutch "alpinopet") may not be part of the regular street scene in the Netherlands, it sure dominates at the flea market in Zwolle.
Photographs by my brother Emile, the Beret Spy.

Emile, the Beret Spy (again)

The latest harvest of photos of boineros/as in the wild by my brother Emile, the Beret Spy:

Utrecht railway station, Netherlands

Recycle Shop in Heerlen, Netherlands

Weesperplein station, Amsterdam, Netherlands

Court House, Den Bosch, Netherlands

Strassbourg, France

Arthur H

Arthur Higelin (1966), better known under his stage name Arthur H, is a French pianist, songwriter and singer. He is best known in France for his live performances—four of his albums were recorded live.

Arthur H is an acrobat. He knows how to combine the most demanding poetry with the energy of rock and the jubilation of pop. It takes a lot of elegance, a lot of application, a lot of intuition. Arthur likes to take risks. He takes pleasure in it. He searches for what has not yet been domesticated in us.

Patrick Larcebal (4)

Last post in the serie on Basque photographer/painter Patrick Larcebal. 

I am sorry to say it, but these photos show one shortcoming of a (small plateau) beret: the eyes are not shielded from the sun!

Patrick Larcebal (3)

Last week I posted on the paintings by French Basque artist Patrick Larcebal, known for his people portraits and street scenes in the Basque Country. 

His photos too depict typical scenes in the French Basque Country (Bayonne); the old men congregating in the street, cattle markets, chatting and smoking.

John Sadovy

Czech-born John Sadovy was sent to Budapest by Life magazine and photographed three days of the Hungarian revolution.

When Life magazine released six of his pictures to the Associated Press, they were run by hundreds of newspapers across the United States.

Later that year the images won the Robert Capa Award for “superlative photography requiring exceptional courage and enterprise abroad”.

José Soler

José Soler was known by friends and family for speaking truth to power — and never forgetting to weave humor into his speeches.

Born in New York City in 1945, the proud Puerto Rican Soler was a photographer, labor journalist and academic who dedicated his life to an array of social justice causes. For two decades he headed the Labor Education Center at UMass Dartmouth.

Soler died in late April of respiratory failure. A COVID-19 test came up negative, but Soler's children say it’s clear that his care was impacted by the outbreak. According to family, a week before he died, Soler called his doctor for an appointment and a COVID-19 test, and the doctor told him to stay home. A week later, Soler could barely breathe, and by the time he got to the hospital, it was too late to save him.

He was 74. His death was attributed to pneumonia.

NOT 1 MORE

A beret-clad young woman stands with purpose as she stares into the camera. Her hands hold a poster with a strong call-to-action. Behind her, an altar is being taken down and people are lingering following a rally. 

Except for the hashtag on her sign, the black-and-white image, taken by photographer Rafael Cardenas, could have been taken nearly 50 years ago at the Chicano Moratorium march against the Vietnam War. The tag on her poster is linked to social media activism, a public refusal to witness more deaths caused by police brutality, but the phrase has also been used nationwide to denounce deportations. In actuality, the photo was shot in Los Angeles after a vigil for Trayvon Martin. The ceremony, which saw hundreds of youth gathering in solidarity, was replicated across the United States. In 2017, Los Angeles youth are still walking out, only now they’re protesting the xenophobia and misogyny that surged during the 2016 presidential election. Then and now, for youth, there are so many reasons to say “no.”

Patrick Larcebal (2)

Following yesterday's post on Patrick Larcebal, here another series of his paintings.

Berets feature prominently in his works, typically depicting Basque settings. 

Patrick Larcebal

Patrick Larcebal was born in Bayonne (French Basque Country) in 1956 and discovered painting in 1998.

His first steps were at the drawing school of Bayonne and am doing watercolor courses.

He participated in many painting competitions “in the street”.

Two years later, Larcebal made painting his job and quickly shared his passion by giving lessons and organizing internships.

He has exhibited in many places in the Basque Country as well as in Bordeaux, Paris and San Sebastian. Larcebal won many prizes and competitions, including Le Brouillarta des Artistes Basques.

Joe Loizzo

Joe Loizzo, M.D., Ph.D. is a contemplative psychotherapist, stress researcher and meditation instructor who integrates Tibetan contemplative science with current breakthroughs in neuroscience and optimal health. 

After training in medicine and psychiatry at Harvard and completing a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies at Columbia, he founded Nalanda Institute for Contemplative Science, a contemplative learning community that weaves timeless tools of self-healing and interdependence for today’s complex world.