British explorer Colonel John Blashford Snell, in charge of the Dorset Scientific Exploration Society .
Topic: Lighthouses & Shipwrecks
News Flash for those interested in Submarines, diving helmets and Jules Verne.


According to International news sources, it seems that Jules Verne Nautilus real-life inspiration was found in the coasts of Panama.

It was discovered by the British explorer Colonel John Blashford-Snell –in charge of the Dorset Scientific Exploration Society while his expedition was tracing some wrecks in the nearby area of San Telmo Island in the Pacific.

This is a wonderful discovery, and we might risk to say it’s double jeopardy, for once it seems to be the submarine inspiration that lead Jules Verne to his most fantastic novel “Twenty thousand leagues under the sea” published in 1870. At the same time this submarine itself is an outstanding museum like discovery. According to the information provided by the experts on location, this submarine was conceived early in 1864 by the brilliant mind of Julius Kroehl. This mastermind of design and engineering built this submarine, christened “Explorer” as the Union’s forces during the American Civil war key weapon. However the Explorer was never used in the conflict and was subsequently taken to Panama where it was used to harvest pearls

This discovery has raised a couple of eyebrows world wide, among Verne’s fans, antiquarians, scientists and all sort of collectors, treasure hunters, and regular people. The key question is why the comparison and statement that it was the French novelist’s inspiration source. A couple of insight facts come to confirm, or at least direct our analysis.

First of all we have two prominent experts –such as Cnl Blashford-Snell and Wyn Davis, maritime history expert- that agree to say that it’s very likely that Verne might have had known and or seen the Explorer, that was built six years before he published his famous novel. Specially if we take in consideration the fact that technological discoveries back then were socialized much more rapidly than in these modern days.

But also, the look-alike features of the two submarines are amazing, specially regarding the submarine technology. The lock-out system based on a reversible air-lock is an outstanding coincidence in both cases. This is a very specific system that allows the crew to leave the vessel into the sea-bed and then return to the submarine, without it being flooded. Like Explorer, Nautilus was also used to gather items from the seabed.

The 36ft by 10ft submarine was found lying less than 10ft of water off Isla San Telmo, an island in an archipelago known as The Pearl Islands in the Panama coastline.

Lighthouse Tours, press here.Light house Tours with Bob Frassinetti,come and enjoy the fun.

Lighthouse in Madanos Point,Province of Buenos Aeres, Argentina,press here..Light house Tours with Bob Frassinetti,come and enjoy the fun.

Lighthouse on Martin Garcia Island.River Plate, near Buenos Aires.

       
Lighthouse on Martin Garcia Island






Contact me threw my ICQ Unified Messaging Center :You can also chat with me using ICQ 78541000.. Or for more information :Email me, Bob Frassinetti.

Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site
Topic: People and Communities
Candida Martinelli established her Italophile site in 2003, and it has developed and grown to become a reference point to the Italian culture, history, sites and amazing cuisine. These are just some of the aspects I found to be more complete and interesting among the most outstanding features that her site offers. As it reads as soon as you click into this wonderful homage to the Italian world –in Italy and around the globe by means of us all Italian origin immigrants- “This site celebrates Italian culture for the enjoyment of children and adults”.

It’s a true honor for us that one of our articles on Italian culture in Argentina was included as an example of what Italian-Argentine citizens have to say.


See Candida Martinelli,press here. Candida Martinelli's Italophile Site.

Candida Martinelli,photo.




Check Candida Martinelli’s site and enjoy the pleasure of surfing throughout the history, culture, gastronomy, tourist sights and of course the outstanding Italian sense of style, among many more interesting and lighting sections.



Thanks to this web site we have made many freinds, such is the case of,Italo American, Giuseppe Pirone, professor and artist.Press here to see us at home with friends. Italo American,Giuseppe Pirone..




For more information :Email Bob Frassinetti. Press here to go to The Buenos Aires Art Dealer is a webzine magazine on Art, Antiques & Collectibles made or found in Argentina. The Buenos Aires Art Dealer,Argentina.

Bob Frassinetti. Copyright 2005. Roberto Dario Frassinetti.

Yachts and Motor Boats
Topic: Yachts and Motor Yachts
Sailing Yachts and Power Motor Boats Regattas in the southern coasts of the Atlantic Ocean and the River Plate.


For the last 100 years Argentina has always been the home to international regattas and off shore competitions for all Latin America.

This country’s passion for water sports and sail trips began during the last years of the nineteenth century, when a few of the most well brought young boys of our society’s most respectful families engaged in an incredible adventure as they sailed through the Atlantic coasts towards the southern Patagionia lands. Mr. Hortencio Aguirre Anchorena and some of his closest friends got together after the amazing experience and decided to open the Yacht Club Argentino.



It was a few months latter when the first sail regatta took place in our country. This was one of the biggest events in the southern continent at that time, all the most important families and personalities open their busy schedules to witness it. “It was unforgettable”, this is the impression that can be traced down through the papers of that time. It must have been, for these chick events haven’t stopped ever since.



After this initial foundation, many other yacht, sail and boating clubs appeared, and were very welcome by our society, and still are.



Buenos Aires is a port side city; its shores are bathed by the waters of one of the world’s widest river, the Rio de la Plata, as well as by the foamy shore of the Atlantic Ocean. Just across the Rio de la Plata is our neighbor slash brother country, Uruguay. This excellent fluvial location is very well taken advantage by all those sea lovers who enjoy not only sailing and cruising but as well very much appreciate these kinds of sports. And although, as we said before, Argentina has always hosted all sorts of events of this kind, for the last few years the feeling for these kind of sports has grown bigger and bigger, experiencing with off the top locations, both in Argentina and Uruguay.



In summertime the beloved location has become Punta del Este, just a few hours away from BA, in Uruguay. The over the top summer resort that welcomes the creme de la creme of all Latin America, and during the last few years has also been the chosen destination for many Americans and Europeans for its gorgeous beaches, its broad night life, and of course, because it is proven that Punta –as the frequent visitors call it- is the top place to be in during January and February. The famous summertime regattas go from the Argentinean Delta to the Punta del Este port. The Delta also hosts famous regattas, very well known for their international level. Mar del Plata, the seaside host to these events has historically been a luxurious beach resort in Argentina, offering the visitors the best of our traditions and lifestyle.



These southern portside cities that welcome hundreds of sea loving visitors every day, have proven them right in their choices, for their comfort, luxury and style are the best perfect match to these outstanding water events.

More Information on LightHouses in Argentina. See Photo Image Gallery for the only Book printed in Argentina on Lighthouses.

Travel Lighthouses, Argentina

See Photo Image Gallery of Boats Sailing the Lakes of Argentina.

             
Classic Boats on the lakes of Argentina




See Photo Image Gallery of Classic Boats made in Argentina.

               
Classic boats of Argentina


Interested in Lighhouses & Shipwrecks,Press here to read all articles on this subject. Lighthouses & Shipwrecks.







For more information :Email Bob Frassinetti. Press here to go to The Buenos Aires Art Dealer is a webzine magazine on Art, Antiques & Collectibles made or found in Argentina. The Buenos Aires Art Dealer,Argentina.

Bob Frassinetti. Copyright 2005. Roberto Dario Frassinetti.

New York, London or Buenos Aires
Topic: Argentina
In the 1960s Di Tella Institute was home to Pop art all the way to those freaky sycadelic happenings. The Instituto Torcuato Di Tella,on Florida Road,900.Buenos Aires.





Culture, counter-culture, hippies and political youth, the Di Tella institute during the 60s.

Around the world, the 1960s express a time of liberation, self revolution, reinvention, freedom. Argentina was no stranger to those international trends.
It is a general thing that historians, sociologists, cultural writers and journalists address separately the cultural and political process of subversion that took place in our country during those years. If indeed the gap between Hippies and Guerrilla fighters is unquestionable, the matter of fact is that within that gap there are grounds in which we can trace a common starting point, that is, the reaction and repulsion to the state of matter of the time. Argentina was being governed by a military coupe. Social, economical and political crisis were unquestionable. However the possibilities from a brighter future, to the young generation as well as to the many political activists of all ages, were in their hands. They expressed the potentiality of a new form of society. To address properly the matter we should strip from disguise each of these movements, it’s not about long hair and drugs, nor it is about beard, moustache and red t-shirts. Art and politics, in the deep meaning of these two concepts, behold a much more interesting and rich nucleus than figurative descriptions about fashion, style and clothing in this matter.
The Di Tella Institute housed several of these movements. It was the epicenter to the Reason and Art in Revolt, the trampoline that a broad group of society saw to the construction of a better world.
Inaugurated on June, 1958, the Di Tella Institute and Torcuato Di Tella Foundation -an homage by Guido and Torcuato Jr. Di Tella to their father’s intense industrial activity- took full identity and structure throughout the 60s. The personal and proud motives that motivated the project however, were just one of the sides to the creation of the Institute and the Foundation. The fact is that these two institutions appear to us as a logical continuation and qualitative step within the evolution of a bursting intellectual and social scene in which Guido and Torcuato were beginning to play a main role in Buenos Aires, and these institutions will soon become focal points to any avant-garde aesthetic and cultural expose.
The Di Tella Institute lei motif was to promote, stimulate, collaborate and/or take part in all sort of educational, intellectual, artistic, social or philanthropic initiative, work and project, promoting all sort of research and top level studies in terms of scientific, cultural and artistic development in Argentina and Latin America as a whole. From Egyptology research and archeological recuperation of the Nubian ruins in Egypt to a Viceroyal Religious Art exhibition, the activities that took place or were carried on by the Insitute triggered Buenos Aires cultural and intellectual life in many ways. At the same time this “more traditional art and intellectual” statements were being exhibited and funded by the Institute, new, innovative and controversial artists found not only a perfect show room but also a shelter under which they could gather together and express their social point of view. This is how Leon Ferrari exhibited his anti- Vietnam war art (among the strongest images there’s a Christ being crucified atop a F-107 air force plane. Soon after Luigi Nono dedicated his concert to “one of the finest Argentines”, referring to Ernesto Che Guevara and the controversial Italian philosopher, Umberto Eco, gave a series of lectures on musical theory during 1970.
The institute was not only a shelter for avant-garde artists and social studies intellectuals, for it encouraged young, potential, outrageous and vivid individuals and groups to conquer their dreams and hopes.
A common slogan from those days summarizes the experience “With the Di Tella institute, the art became hip, trendy…alive, reaching the greater public, making a difference”.
The block that housed the Institute and a variety of cafes, stores and hang out places was soon to be christened as “Crazy apple”…
Among the most outrageous and avant-garde activities held at the Institute we can point out these as examples that can illustrate what we’ve been describing above.
In 1966 Marta Minujin shows "La Menesunda" an everyday life happening: going through a neon light tunnel the visitor, the passer by, was lead into a small room in which there were two naked people laying in bed.
Throughout the whole decade the Institute developed to be a sort of resistance institution to the censure perpetrated by the military government, hence there was a broad variety of graffiti art anti status quo.
Clorindo Testa –architect-, Gyula Kosice –sculpture- and Dalila Puzzovio were awarded prizes for their avant-garde view and works.
The first Comic book Biennial took place within the Institute’s facilities organized by the famous Oscar Masotta.
Antonio Berni, Raquel Forner, Julio Le Parc’s art works were exhibited with some of the highest ranks of visitors ever, nearly 160,000 people.
The list of outstanding artists that took part in this cultural venture are countless, this is the list of some of the most prominent names: • Antonio Berni, •Libero Badii, • Luis Fernando Benedit • Delia Cancela • Jorge de la Vega• Ernesto Deira• Romulo Maccio• Luis Felipe Noe• Gyula Kosice• Julio LeParc• Rogelio Polesello• Ruben Santantolin• Antonio Segui• Clorindo Testa
• Ari Brizzi• Carlos Silva• Alicia Perez Pe?alba• Lea Lublin• Roberto Aizenberg• Federico Manuel Peralta Ramos• Emilio Renart• Luis Alberto Wells• Dalila Puzzovio• Antonio Trotta
• David Lamelas• Juan Carlos Distefano• Marta Minujin• Susana Salgado• Alfredo Rodriguez Arias• Oscar Boni• Juan Stoppani• Edgardo Gimenez• Leon Ferrari• Mercedes Esteves• Carlos Squirru• Pablo Suarez• Oscar Palacio• Margarita Paksa• Ricardo Carreira• Pablo Mesejean• Ines Gross• Adolfo Bronowsky• Roberto Jacoby• Pablo Meniucci• Liliana Porter• Luis Camnitzer
• Osvaldo Romberg• Luis Pazos• Jorge Lujan Gutierrez• Alberto Greco• Fernando Von Reichembach• Graciela Martinez• Iris Scaccheri• Federico Klemm

But the experience of a counter culture in such aggressive and censure environment as the prevalent during Ongania’s presidency was doomed to end sooner than alter. There were indeed other factors other that the strictly political that played an important part to the Di Tella institute’s end. On one side, the economic factor played a crucial role, for the Institute was financed by the Di Tella Family company (Siam Di Tella), once the company took a bad economic turn, the financing became harder and harder to maintain. On the other, the constant attack perpetrated by the right wing politicians that labeled the institute’s activists was hippies, drug addicts and communists, or the suspicious left parties that exposed the institute as a CIA institution, lead this institution into discredit and disdain…

To us, these are just excuses for a deeper and harsher cause that we explicit above, that is the censorship and increasingly harder social repression that was beginning to take over the Argentine culture and society… In a matter of just 6 years Argentina was to go through the roughest and hardest historical episode ever, and the closure of the Di Tella institute was nothing but an indication that times were changing rapidly, and that there was no social space for counter cultures or subversion of any kind.


How did people look back then, see Photo Image Gallery of people from the 60s, there looks and styles.

people from the 1960s


For more information in this article email: Email: Bob Frassinetti. Press here to see information on Art in Argentina:.

Interested in Cultural Tours.For more information: Email: Bob Frassinetti. Press here to read on Cultural Tours in Argentina:


For more information on any subject:Email Bob Frassinetti. Press here to go to The Buenos Aires Art Dealer is a webzine magazine on Art, Antiques & Collectibles made or found in Argentina. The Buenos Aires Art Dealer,Argentina.

Bob Frassinetti. Copyright 2005. Roberto Dario Frassinetti.

Find out more on Argentina
Topic: Argentina
Argentina is the second largest country in South America, and one of the longest in the world. The map location to the Argentine Republic is between latitude 22? and 55?. Just a bit over the Tropic of Capricorn, La Quiaca is the northernmost point of this country that extends all the way to the southernmost point of the World, Land of Fire.

It’s a beautiful country with a broad variety of climates and geographies that present themselves in a rainbow of regions throughout 2.8 million sq. meters. By means of description, a fine imagination and a brief insight we can picture those contrasts. The northwest plateaus, the lake region, the forests and glaciers in the Patagonia somehow blend in through means of distance with Argentine Mesopotamia (provinces of Entre Rios, Corrientes and Misiones) formed by low hills, pools and marshlands that are the main gate to a bushy subtropical rain forest home to the wonderful and spectacular phenomena of the Iguazu Falls. Further south: the “typical” Pampas, in the center-heart of Argentina, miles and miles of plains for agricultural and livestock activities –main income provider to the National Brut product-. Towards the southern region of our country, from the Andes to the sea, the stony plateaus of Patagonia; to one side the Atlantic coast, lined with high cliffs, and a spectacular and unique colonies of sea animals; to the other, the imponent Andes Mountains.

Argentina consists of 23 provinces plus a federal district, the City Buenos Aires house to the national government institutions. There are over 37 million Argentines; the greatest proportion lives in urban districts and almost 15 million –nearly half the entire population of our country- resides in the city of Buenos Aires.

In terms of cultural identity, the Argentine is –no question about it- a South American strongly bonded to its Hispanic roots, sometimes looking across the Atlantic to Europe, some others facing its Latino background. However, it’s true that being a country built with the combined effort of European immigrants, criollos (Spaniards born in Colonial America) and indigenous population, Argentina is a melting pot type of society. The European look of the country’s capital and the fact that statistics show that nearly 95% of the Argentine population has received elementary education might appear as signs of differentiation with the rest of Latin America. But the northwest provinces –for example- express through the blend of the colonial fine architecture and the inputs of modernity a tighter bond with the neighboring countries of Bolivia and Peru.

The official language in the Argentine Republic is Castellano Spanish, the language brought by the Spanish conqueror to the Americas during Colonial times. However, by means of use, history and customs, this Spanish has evolved into a specific tone and style, differing in accent and pronunciation between regions. The most evident trademark difference is between the Castellano Spanish spoken in the country’s capital Buenos Aires, and the rest of the country. Buenos Aires, home to Porte?os –port side citizens- features a very much Italian influenced version of Spanish, while the rest of the country has a “tune” and pronunciation that could be set much more accordingly to the rest of the Latin American Spanish speaking countries. However, the basic language is Spanish and from a Spaniard to a Paraguayan, all Spanish speakers would have no problem in communicating and understanding the Argentine Castellano. For the key is that there’s a pronunciation and emphasis difference.

In terms of culture and religion, the Argentine society is open and varied. Freedom of cult is the norm in Argentina; however the official religion is Roman Catholic. Statistics present that around 92% of the Argentine population is nominally Roman Catholic however a bit less than 20% is indeed a practicing Catholic, as to Protestants , around 2% of the population and an other 2% is Jewish, the remaining other 4% practices other religions or is non religious and atheistic.

The Argentine people are very well cultivated, take much pleasure in music, reading, theatre, the movies and many other cultural expressions. Borges, his short stories and poetry, Ernesto Sabato, Julio Cortazar, Roberto Arlt, Osvaldo Soriano and Mauel Puig are some of Argentina’s wordl known writers. Carlos Gardel, Astor Piazzolla and Julio Sosa were Tango exponents around the world, and in these modern times, not only the superb Traditional Orchestra Fernandez Fierro but also electronic tango versions are kicking in. But Argentina is not all about tango –though we love it and are very proud of it- Folk northern music is outstandingly well represented by Tomas Lipan, Ricardo Vilca, Peteco Carabajal and Rally Barrionuevo. Rock n’ Roll is also an unquestioable trade mark of our youth and their passion for music, Los Redonditos de Ricota, Charly Garcia, Bersuit Vergarabat, Divididos, Las Pelotas, La Renga, etc are just examples of a rich style. From traditional Ballet with Julio Bocca to DE la Guarda and the clown type of dance and theatre… From Xul Solar to Antonio Berni in the ArtScene. Argentina’s cultural world is rich and powerful, and it’s very much worth to explore and discover.



An other interesting side to the Argentine culture is the great pleasure taken in food and the social ritual of sharing a meal, a bite, a snack, a moment… From a mate session with a group of friend (Mate is a herbal sort of tea that is drank with a straw from a small pumpkin or wooden cup) or a Sunday asado (barbeque) or home made past lunch, to sophisticated gourmandize experiences, Argentines love good food and quality time.

Tango, great steaks and… Maradona, football –soccer- are the three passions that might summarize the “Argentinianity” or better said, the sense of being Argentine.

See Phot Images of Down Town Buenos Aires.

       
Argentina in Photos Part 1

See Image Gallery for Antiques in the East Gallery of down town BA.

Argentina in Photos Part 2

And if you are looking to buy art, antiques or collectibles from Buenos Aires, Argentina, then check this my web cam for all kinds of items, I can show you my office and any item LIVE, and for more information: Contact me See "artdealer_ar"

profile on Yahoo, I'm online now!:You can chat with me using Yahoo Instant Messenger.



See some parts of the south of Argentina.

               
Argentina in Photos Part 3

Email : Email Bob Frassinetti. Read more about items, Press here to see : A Daily up date on Art, Antiques as well as Collectibles from Bob Frassinetti, Art

Dealer & Journalist.