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One of the tribes from the high jungle mountain areas paints themselves like undead spirits to scare the other tribes away. Everyone here is quite superstitious and a lot of their free time is spent exchanging legends and stories. The tribe spends hours painting one another to make sure their spirit-bodies are seen from as far away as possible. It was quite a dangerous place here and there are countless tales of headhunting and cannibalism. I didn't feel any intense danger because I've been in some of the craziest situations in the world and I know how to handle myself. Also, I'm a very happy zen person and smile and laugh a lot, which usually seems to disarm people and make them feel comfortable with me. These people are inherently suspicious of white people since they've been exploited for about a century, not to mention all the stuff that South African diamond-miners engaged in. This guy and I hung out for a while. We didn't speak any of the same words, but established some sort of international communication. After a bit, he felt comfortable enough with me so I could take a photo. Goroka, Papua New Guinea
Man I still can't figure out why Bourdain committed suicide. I have a theory on it, but it's just a working theory. Maybe I'll talk about it on an upcoming show I do with Gino Barassa. We both got to hang out with him on the Cayman Islands. I got a lot of very nice emails from friends after his passing. That was very nice… but it wasn't like I was best friends with Anthony or anything. We just kinda hung out, like he does with a lot of people. Also, I wasn't too surprised his net worth after passing was less than $2 million. I think many people reach a point where they are not materialistic (I'm certainly that way), so he saw no need to hoard a lot of cash and assets. As far as the suicide, I know the press is saying that he was infatuated with his girlfriend and something went awry there that caused the suicide. But I don't subscribe to that theory because that happens all the time to millions of people around the world, and they rarely result in suicide, especially for intellectuals. So, I'll share my theory as soon as it matures a little. Anyway, here's my last photo of Tony. Read more: https://www.stuckincustoms.com/2018/07/28/my-last-photo-of-anthony-bourdain/ Copyright: Trey Ratcliff /StuckInCustoms.com
Randomly, by chance, I saw my friend Linnea Berzen twice out in the desert. It's almost impossible to have a set meeting anywhere out there because mobile phones don't really work. This year we were smart and left a little whiteboard outside the RV so people could leave messages. Some anonymous girl wrote how attractive Rene was, and he took about 100 mobile phone photos of that, having reached peak-Rene. I take a LOT of people photos there, and for this year, this one might be my favorite.
