The Riverman Reports - Inc. Huttz World : Switzerland

Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Image via Wikipedia Sir Ed's statue before Mt Cook, NZ

High Cort injunction prevents sale of Sir Ed Hillary's watches in Switzerland..

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A High Court judge has granted an injunction preventing Edmund Hillary's watches from being sold at auction in Switzerland.

It comes as June, Lady Hillary, has been asked by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage to return one of her late husband wristwatches to New Zealand after she entered it for sale at a Swiss auction house - because of its historical importance
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The injunction instructs Sir Edmund Hillary's widow Lady June Hillary to tell the Swiss auction house, where the watches were to be sold, to withdraw them from sale
The auction was due to take place at 6am this Monday, New Zealand time
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The injunction was lodged by lawyers for Sir Edmund's son Peter and daughter Sarah, who claim they own the watches
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The watches include an Oyster Perpetual, engraved with "Sir E. Hillary", which Sir Edmund was presented with in 1953, after he climbed Mt Everest
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He wore it on his first Antarctic expedition from 1955-1958
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The ministry said this evening that the Oyster Perpetual has legal protection under the Protected Objects Act, and wrote to Lady Hillary's lawyers this afternoon informing her of that and asking her to return it, a spokeswoman said
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The ministry was waiting for a response from her lawyers before decided its next course of action.
Yesterday, the ministry said if the watches were found to have legal protection under the Act, the New Zealand and Swiss governments may get involved
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The wristwatch was expected to fetch more than US$20,000 because of its historical significance.
"I believe it has been stopped for the time being and we are hopeful we can preserve these legacy items," Peter Hillary said. "They, along with a lot of other items, are of great significance to this family and I would suggest in some respects to New Zealand, in terms of being important items from the Ed Hillary collection," he said
By law protected object cannot be exported without ministry permission.
The Hillarys said Lady June put the watches up for sale without talking to them, and the watches were owned by the family, not Lady June, under the terms of his father's will.
Peter Hillary said it was "very sad" he and his sister had had to take court action to stop his stepmother from going ahead with the sale, but it was the straw which had broken the camel's back.
"There have been a number of very significant items from the Ed Hillary collection that do belong to Sarah and I, that have been disposed of inappropriately."

"I believe that it has been stopped for the time being and we are hopeful we can preserve these legacy items. They, along with a lot of other items, are of great significance to this family and I would suggest in some respects to New Zealand, in terms of being important items from the Ed Hillary collection."
Neither Lady Hillary nor her lawyer were available for comment.
Sir Ed died in 2008
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New Zealand courts have no jurisdiction in Switzerland but could make orders which applied to people in New Zealand, even if the event was happening overseas.
KR says: We sincerely hope this matter can be resolved before the animosity permanently destroys the relationship between Sir Ed's children and their stepmother.

Saturday, November 06, 2010

Image via Wikipedia The rift betwwn Sir Edmund Hillary's children and his widow, their stepmother, grew yesterday...

The rift between Sir Edmund Hillary's widow and his children grew yesterday, with claims his son Peter has been cut out of a trust the great mountaineer set up.

Sir Ed's daughter, Sarah Hillary, said her brother Peter had not been appointed to the Himalayan Trust, set up by her father to help the Sherpa people, because of personality conflicts.

"There's been a bit of a take-over of the trust by a group that probably don't want Peter there," she said.
Sarah Hillary was appointed to the trust on Friday but she said Peter would have been a better choice.
The comments come as Sarah and Peter battle Sir Ed's widow, Lady June Hillary, over her plans to auction in Switzerland next Saturday his collection of Rolex watches, including one given to him after he climbed Mt Everest in 1953 which is now valued at $25,000.

Sarah and Peter have threatened legal action if the auction house does not withdraw them from sale.
Mike Gill, a long time Himalayan Trust member and a close friend of Sir Ed, said he was expelled on Thursday in a letter couriered to him from Lady June.

He said the trust had split into two groups - one behind Lady June, the other looking for more activity in the trust. Gill had suggested Peter Hillary be appointed to the trust.
Trust council member David Hayman, who is Lady June's son-in-law, said Friday's meeting was "very successful".
Sarah Hillary's appointment was a "very popular outcome".
Lady June said yesterday that the proceeds from the sale of the watches were earmarked for charity work supporting education and health services in Nepal.

A friend of Lady June, Jim Wilson told the Herald on Sunday they wanted to "clear up any possible misconception that we are selling these watches for personal gain
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The sale of the watches was to raise funds for Ed Hillary's Himalayan Trust." At the end of last June the trust's assets were worth about $3.9 million.

But Lady June's intention to sell the watches to benefit the trust came as news to Sarah and Peter Hillary.
Sarah Hillary said: "We think it's a wonderful idea to do it to raise money for the Himalayan Trust but we should have been consulted about it. One of the watches is one that Peter had for quite some time."
Peter Hillary declined to comment but his wife, Yvonne, said: "Ed Hillary had a son, three grandsons - any one of whom would have loved those watches."

KR: Such a sad story. I hope it can be resolved speedily; it could damage the memory of one of our country's greatest sons. Sir Ed's wishes should be granted.

Acknowledgements: Kathryn Powley/MSN News

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

A reservoir glass filled with a naturally colo...

Image via Wikipedia

Absinthe - "The Green Fairy" - named for its emerald colour and its ability to make your head swirl.

Does this alcoholic beverage deserve its reputation? Personally I have never tried it; in my younger days I was not into liqueurs, preferring to drink brown and golden brown ales and lagers in my journeys and youthful socialising. But, however, there were plenty around who did, and enjoyed it, it has been widely claimed. And Absinthe does have its very old reputation; does it indeed warrant this? Does it deserve its reputation to make your head swirl after drinking its emerald green contents? Has any alcoholic beverage attracted as much conjecture as Absinthe?

New Zealand is, according to a recent claim, one of the few countries in the world where Absinthe is sold across the counter without any regulation or other restraint. Bartenders here are using it in cocktails and it is also available to take home from most liquor stores as well.

This is apparently remarkable because some brands contain quantities of thujone, a derivative of the leaves and flowers of the wormwood plant from the Mediterranean with a reputation as a 'psychotic convulsant'  (described in a number of books and stories over the years) dating back to an earlier time when science and medicines were a great deal different than their modern varieties.

Well do the old reputations stack up today! Will it make you blind and mad, as I have read? There is no evidence to support any assertation or claim that modern Absinthe resembles the rudimentary drink from the past. Recent studies have found small ineffectual doses of thujone may accumulate in the body and produce, over time, minor toxicity.  While this might explain Absinthe's alleged reputation for producing a heady buzz, any light- headedness  is more likely to be a reaction to over-indulgence of a highly alcoholic beverage that contains a myriad of unfamiliar herbs and flavourings. What a let down! So it was just a case of going on an Absinthe bender? The modern variety perhaps, but like many of the old alcoholic drinks with reputations emanating from  the dark and distant past - the Scotch and Irish whiskies for instance - the old Absinthe may well have lived up to its history.

While the modern form of Absinthe has been variously attributed to apothecaries in Switzerland and France,   tonics in the manner of Absinthe have existed for thousands of years. Pythagoras and Hippocrates   reportedly recommended wormword elixirs for a variety of ailments and were included in medicine chests of doctors in many places for centuries. Even that ubiquitous Vicks VapoRub that many of us have in our own medicine cupboards today, is claimed to contain small quantities of thujone.

Thujone can be reportedly found in other modern alcoholic drinks today, such as Vermouth, Chartreuse and Benedictine. In fact Vermouth, made from using flower heads from Wormword, takes its name from the German' wermuth'  . Wormwood is also popular as flavouring for branvin, an alcoholic drink made from potatoes in Sweden.

This is not the end of the wormwood or Absinthe story, just a pause here. I hope you enjoyed the information in my story; I enjoyed researching and writing it. Absinthe, the emerald 'green fairy' may swirl a few more Kiwi heads yet.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

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Saturday, November 06, 2010

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