brieucgwalder

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"Faraway Land of Mine". Tango

“Lejana tierra mía”. Carlos Gardel Lejana tierra míaBajo tu cielo, bajo tu cieloQuiero morirme un díaCon tu consuelo, con tu consuelo Faraway land of mine Under your sky, under your sky, I want to die some day With your comfort, with your comfort Y oír el canto de oroDe tus campanas que siempre añoroNo sé si al contemplarte al regresarSabré reír o llorar And hear the golden song Of your…

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Pale Kings and Princes

“La Belle Dame Sans Merci“ I O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,Alone and palely loitering?The sedge has wither’d from the lake,And no birds sing.  IIO what can ail thee, knight-at-arms!So haggard and so woe-begone?The squirrel’s granary is full,And the harvest’s done. III I see a lily on thy browWith anguish moist and fever dew,And on thy cheeks a fading roseFast withereth too. IV I met…

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The Missing Boat

An African Childhood Look! The bats are flying out.” Claude looked at his watch. “Five o’clock sharp. Time for another round.”             5PM, at the boat-club in West Africa. The grownups were having a last cool drink, beer or whisky on the rocks, waiting for the sunset. Hundreds of bats were flying out of the mango trees of the city of Conakry. West Africa in the early 60’s, a few years…

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Indonesia Street Art Revisited

“Looking for Freedom”. We were in Asia in February this year. Indonesia for us consisted of Yogyakarta, the first proclaimed capital of Independent Indonesia while the Independence leaders “negotiated” with the Dutch after the Japanese occupation ended in 1945. This could be an art piece called “The soldiers are lost without a king.” Yogyakarta is a special region still ruled by a Sultan… The…

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The Rolous Temples, Angkor

Half an hour’s drive to the East of Angkor, stand a few isolated temples designated as the Rolous group. Preah Ko, above, is one. Built in 879AD, it honours the King’s family and is dedicated to Shiva. Statues of Nandi, the white bull mounted by Shiva, are rare in Angkor. One common aspect of Angkor’s architecture are those doors, some fake, some opening to the inner temple. The inspiration…

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ROM*

Oldies but goldies. Mexico city. This little beaut’ is a VW Karmann Ghia coupé. (Thank you Gilles, always, for introducing me to Google lens!) Probably 1967. It was in great shape. 212 area code. Juan Domingo Perón. Why do all dictators “politicos”, always put their arms in the air? Buenos Aires, Argentina. Meatpacking district, New York. The Thames. Near Blackfriars methinks. London. “The…

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Random Access Memories (RAM)

Mother and child. Montreal, Canada. Elbows up! Tuesday doors, Bogotá, Colombia. Cheval blanc, Montreal. Beers of the world series. Bruges, Belgium. The language of hands. Bogotá. Juan Manuel Fangio, 5 times F1 World champion. Buenos Aires, Argentina. New York. Where else? Memorial to the victims of COVID, Buenos Aires. Each stone bears a name. An Argentinian lady and her son explained the…

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No Fear

“I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” Litany against Fear. Bene Gesserit. Dune. Frank Herbert Tomorrow, June 14, might…

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Of Dachshunds and Elephants

An African Childhood Movie Baby Dachshund Rosalie, Nairobi, Kenya, 1967. After living for five years in West Africa, and a 3-year Dutch interlude, we were back in Africa. “East side”. Yeah! Mzuri sana. The author of these lines blowing air on Rosalie’s ears. She didn’t like it. Downtown Nairobi. With a BOAC ad on top of a building. Remember BOAC? “Keep left” was… natural for the Kingereza…

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The Sea for Only Horizon

An African Childhood Movie I had a house in Africa. Facing the open sea. For a few years, the sea was our only horizon. No beach, just black rocks between the house and the sea. A concrete jetty led us to the water. Above, left: Little sister pointing… at dolphins probably. Sitting on the jetty, your truly, pondering the next game. Pirates? Treasure island? Little sister, a spot of near-white…

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The Sultan, the Vizier and the Câdi. The end

Chapter IV. On Tyranny Sultan: The word Sultan comes from the Arabic ‘authority’, ‘power’, ‘rulership’. Vizier: The highest ranking official at the court of the Sultan Câdi: Judge The current attack on all sorts of checks and balances from parliament to universities, to media, to law firms and the judiciary, leads us back to a series of 17th and 18th century authors and political actors from…

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The Sultan, the Vizier and the Câdi, Cont.d

Chapter II Cognitive dissonance Cognitive dissonance is an internal conflict. It may happen when an existing belief is confronted with a conflicting information. You believe Earth is flat, you are presented with sound, sustained, scientific information that proves Earth is a sphere. Will you keep believing Earth is flat? Most likely. Or will you switch gear and admit it is not flat? Probably…

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The Sultan, the Vizier and the Câdi

“Among the Turks, where the three powers are united in the person of the sultan, an atrocious despotism reigns… (Montesquieu) “This time, I run the country and I run the world”. (The Sultan). Outside demented fiction, this is quite possibly the first time in modern times, that a politician claims to rule the world. Overtly. A politico elected by little over half a specific nation, with a…

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Lolei temple, Angkor

Our second day in Angkor took us far from the madding crowd, to the Rolous group of temples, half an hour to the east of Angkor proper. Lolei is a very small site, only one small temple remains, to the right. A buddhist monastery has been added; monks were chanting prayers during all our visit. Frangipani trees always remind me of West Africa. Beautiful, fragrant flowers. The temples were…

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Random Musings

Picture ma’am? Bogotá, Colombia. Best chicken Tikka Masala in town. Mexico city. My brother’s car. Paris. France. Not Texas. One for the road. Beers of the world series. High Noon. “If you forsake me oh my darling”… (Don’t ask me why I thought of that. Haven’t got a clue) Azraela was the fallen Angela. Mexico city. For sale. A bargain. Tlalpan. Mexico city. Another cute little Mercedes.…

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A Morning Walk, Brussels

La maison du Roi. The King’s house, Grand-place, Brussels. Brussels is a favourite city of mine. I first went in the 80’s, when I was doing many international research projects for multinationals with head office in Brussels. (I know, multinationals. No names, I worked for most of the bad guys…) I got to like the city then, and try to go back regularly. The Grand-Place, Grote Markt, literally,…

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Singapore Street Art. Part 2

The name Singapore comes from ‘Singapura’, the city of lions, Sing or Singa meaning lion. The Straits Chinese were very strong on trade all across Asia. Anything worth selling could be sold. Look at the stars! A nice café in Chinatown. Social Creatives. Sounds good. Renovated warehouses on Clarke Quay. The Singapore river is past the buildings on the right. Haircut, Sir? Little…