This is so metal! A legendary pirate was decapitated in 1401 in Hamburg, Germany. He made a deal with the executioner that however many of his 70 member crew he could manage to walk past POST decapitation [yes, headless!] would be spared.
Amazing as that is already, his skull was recently stolen by whom is believed to be a lolal biker gang chapter of Hell's Angels.
Here is the full story;
Pirate's head taken off again
* From: The Times
* February 24, 2010 12:00AM
WHEN fearsome Baltic pirate Klaus Stortebeker was executed 600 years ago, his headless body is said to have walked 12m along the length of Hamburg quayside.
He had struck a deal with the elders of the port: any of his 70 men he managed to pass in his post-decapitation walk should be spared. The quivering corpse passed 11 fellow pirates before the executioner put out a foot and tripped him up.
Little wonder, then, that the skull of Stortebeker has fascinated Germans for so long -- and that its theft from a Hamburg museum last month has kept police busy. They interrogated members of the often reckless FC St Pauli fan club and dug deep into the city's Goth scene, before concentrating on a new possibility: that the pirate's skull has become a trophy in the turf wars between rival biker gangs.
On Saturday night, a skull was placed outside the offices of the Hamburger Morgenpost with "No Tacos" written on its crown. Tacos is slang for the biker group Bandidos, which is challenging the Hell's Angels for control over northern Germany's lucrative drugs trade. Ralph Wiechmann, the head of archeology at Hamburg Museum, was called in to examine the skull and ruled it belonged to a more recent corpse than that of Stortebeker.
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Related Coverage
* 'Fox skull' found in Tasmania confirmed Adelaide Now, 11 Feb 2010
* For sale: relic of Yale house rocks society's dead centre The Australian, 7 Jan 2010
* Peter Garrett to join pirates on stage The Australian, 6 Jan 2010
* Best pictures of the day Courier Mail,
* Giant beast's skull found Adelaide Now, 28 Oct 2009
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The pirate's skull has a gaping hole on its right side, where it was nailed to a wooden stake outside the harbour gate to deter people from piracy. The latest skull bore axe wounds but no nail hole.
Even so, the local press continues to insist that a Hell's Angels chapter is the likely culprit. The Morgenpost cites an "insider from the biker scene" as saying the skull was offered to the Hell's Angels free of charge by an unnamed thief. "The piratical skull and crossbones is certainly part of the insignia of aggressive motorcycle gangs," a police investigator said.
Stortebeker is regarded as a Robin Hood or even a Che Guevara figure by many north Germans because he robbed the rich merchant ships of the Hanseatic League. However, evidence of him redistributing his booty to the poor is scarce. Legend has it that after his execution, Hamburg senators found the masts of his ships had cores of gold and silver.
The possibility that Stortebeker, who was decapitated in October 1401 (or a year earlier, by some accounts), aged 40, was little more than a bloodthirsty crook has not detracted from his iconic status. He has a statue honouring him in Hamburg and a brewery in Stralsund named after him. "The skull is an important relic of Hamburg history," said Hamburg Museum director Lisa Kosok. "It is priceless." It disappeared for a few centuries but re-emerged in 1878 during excavations to expand Hamburg harbour. The age of the skull was confirmed in 1999.
The Hamburg Senate failed to keep its promise to Stortebeker and the 11 men were not spared. After chopping off the heads of all of Stortebeker's pirates, the executioner was asked if he was not a little tired. He replied that he had enough energy to execute the Senate elders as well. This was probably intended as a joke -- but the Senate ordered the executioner to be beheaded.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Week in the life of..
Trying to recount an entire week can be difficult, and I'm sure I'll leave out some stuff. However, I'll do my best to recount what has been going on.
About a week ago, I drove down to Mammoth to hang with the wife and slang goggles and boards. It was absolutely gorgeous! I drove down in the snow, and it continued to snow all night. The next morning, we all woke up o a beautiful, bluebird day.
With the weather in Tahoe snowy and gloomy for the two weeks prior, my vitamin D deprived body was stoked to see some sun. I ended up having to drive back to Tahoe for work almost as soon as I got there, but the drive back was totally worth it.
Stunning.
I left Mammoth at about 4PM, and watched the sun caress the snowy mountains in orange light. It was perfect. The rays bounced off of the crystallized snow, all the way to Mono Lake. I pulled over to take some pictures, only to realize that I left my Lomo in Mammoth! My material best friend...oh well. In the least I snapped some photos with my iphone. The pictures do not do the beauty justice.
Perfection.
After I got back, business as usual at the demo shop. I got attacked on the floor by about a hundred rubber bands, and am woman enough to admit that I don't stand a chance against Beau Bevier in a rubber band fight.
Not a chance.
On Friday I had a lovely date with my mom at the Alpine Club. I ate some spicy veggie gumbo, watched a movie, and stayed in.
I thought the weekend would be nuts because of President's Day, but it was actually pretty mellow. On Valentine's day, Knoblauch and I ice skated for about five minutes until we were over it, then went to Smokey's for dinner. Good food, good date :)
Lots of sun, lots of amazing clothes and boots from the 80's/90's...
A mouse escaped from the snake cage and ran into my room....
Stian came and left to film, and my amazing aunt Julie came to stay. I had a day off yesterday and took her to my favorite spot on the lake; giant, rounded rocks jut out of the water, surrounded by the magnanimous lake and breath taking mountains. This spot makes everything melt away and seem trivial. This spot makes one even more happy to be alive.
A perfect day.
Today, I found out that my uncle Steve [other side of the family] was having emergency triple bypass surgery; luckily he caught this before having a heart attack. Scary and stressful, but I am confident that he will be okay and heal well.
As for other things,
*New York in 12 days
*London in 8 weeks
*Israel and Jordan in 9 weeks
* possibly an excursion to Lebanon?
*Rome in May
Annnndddd,
I'm coming back earlier than previously expected from my adventure; June 8th.
So mark your calendar, kids, if I'll be touring your area anytime soon!
I've been getting calls, texts, and messages asking my plans, and this is all I have for now. I'm still contemplating a stopover in Dublin at some point to visit all my kooky friends, as well as a weekend in Paris to go to my favorite venue [La Fleche D'Or] and read in the Louvre gardens. Also, Annie will be joining me in Rome! Yee!!
AND I got a dollar in the mail today, from JD Power and Associates! So happy I actually opened the 'junk mail!'
:)
Have a great night, folks! Here are some iPhone photos from my week;
Monday, February 8, 2010
Friday, February 5, 2010
Skiing with the Norwegians...and Other Stuff.
I don't ski.
We all know this.
I am stuck on pizza and french fries.
Well, some Norwegian friends of mine were watching the X-Games Big Air skiing, and got inspired.
The 'Wegians said they didn't know how to ski, so I thought it would be fun.
They LIED.
First run we went straight to the park, and while I was slowly making my way down the hill [I also decided to forgo poles], they were doing 360s, hitting boxes and rails, and by the end of the day hit the big jumps that even skiers wouldn't hit!
They all yelled at me that I sucked, and needless to say, I traded skis for my snowboard after one run.
Hahahahhaa.
Things I'm excited for:
1. Mammoth with friends next week, and for free!
2. NYC in three weeks!
3. London in less than two months!
4. The Middle East in two months!
Anyways, here are pictures from skiing and other photos from my iPhone throughout the past week. Enjoy!
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