Messages

1

The Alexander Palace / Re: Bob Atchison's Sept 2013 Trip to the AP!

« on: April 20, 2014, 02:49:06 PM »

It's been a very long time since I visited this forum, but finally visiting St-Petersburg for the first time in my life has reignited the whole Romanov-intrest.

During our week there, we took a day to visit Tsarskoe Selo and of course included the AP in our visit. I was positively surprised by the restauration of the palace. As I remembered it from pictures here, I was expecting something much worse. Of course, we only got to see a very small part of the palace. I can imagine that a lot of work still has to be done.

Anyway, I'd like to thank Bob for everything he did to help preserving and restauring this palace.
Hopefully, the palace can one day be restaured completely to the state it was in when the IF left in 1917.

2

The Habsburgs / Re: Emperor Franz Joseph

« on: October 05, 2008, 06:50:17 PM »

In its first form it was a cocawine (wine mixed with cocaine). Because of a prohibition law somewhere in the 1880s, Pemberton replaced the wine by carbonated water. The main two ingredients in the beginning were coca-leaves and the cola nut (which contains lots of caffeine). In the beginning of the 20th century however, coca-cola stopped using fresh coca-leaves and started using spent coca-leaves (coca-leaves after the cocaine has been extracted, but which must still contain molecular traces of cocaine). I'm not sure how they're making it now, since the 'new coke' formula is not known to the public.
The reputation as a medicine came from Pemberton himself, who advertised his new drink by saying it cured all sorts of illnesses (including morphine addiction, hysteria, headaches, impotence, etc). I can't find any reference to it tasting like cough medicine back then though.

3

The Final Chapter / Re: The severed finger

« on: July 31, 2008, 12:28:53 PM »

Found a document where some Metropolitan Vitaly (someone from the ROCOR) is talking about the relics and the church in Brussels.

"As I recall, there was a little finger which was attributed to the Empress. Then there were a few more small fragments, but everything was sealed into the walls of the church. So they are not on the altar table and you cannot venerate them. They were all sealed in when the foundation of the church was laid. There are icons and other things that belonged to the Tsar, but the relics themselves, such as they were (there were extremely small amounts) were all embedded into the walls. We cannot demolish the walls and start looking for them. That would be out of the question! I was present at the consecration of the church. At first these relics were kept in Brussels, in a small house church, but we kept them secretly, because there were still relatives of the Romanoff family alive who could have laid claim to them. But when they had all died and there was no direct lawful heir to the throne left, then we embedded these relics in the wall of the church."

"Finally, the small reliquary containing a few fragments of the Royal relics, which were given to us by Sokoloff's commission of investigation, is kept in the Memorial Church in Brussels as a sacred object and so..."

http://www.monasterypress.com/Royal.html


Edit: found a picture of the church as well.
http://www.ebru.be/Other/Kerken/krk1180russe.html
Apparently it's an exact copy of a 17th century church in Ostrovo (Moscow)

4

News Links / Re: Faberge Hatches A New Egg

« on: June 01, 2008, 07:19:22 PM »

I thought there already were (small) companies who were and still are authorised to make Fabergé eggs and sell them under that name.

Also, the owner of the name Fabergé was Unilever?
What do those megacorporations don't have...

5

News Links / Re: Russian historian concerned with "slanderous campaign" against Nicholas II

« on: June 01, 2008, 07:14:12 PM »

Sometimes I wonder how much the common man in Russia knows about what really happened before, during and after the revolutiion.
Everyone born in the Soviet era has been indoctrinated ad infinitum I assume, but now that the USSR is gone for almost 20 years, I sometimes wonder if people know now start to learn what really happened, or if they überhaupt care.

Also an interesting name Mr. Multatuli took for himself there :p

6

News Links / Re: Remains of Russian tsar's children possibly found - archeologists

« on: May 06, 2008, 02:32:24 AM »

Oh, too bad

There were always nice and interesting discussions going on there
Discussions that didn't have anything to do with this subject or AA or other claimants.

7

News Links / Re: Remains of Russian tsar's children possibly found - archeologists

« on: May 05, 2008, 03:59:08 PM »

Imo, no evidence is ever redundant.

I disagree. You haven't been fed Chatnoir's shoe, height and 'memory' list dozens of times like I have. Sigh!

Rofl
I can imagine what you mean though...

I wonder what ever happened to that other forum. I can't get on there anymore.
Either I'm banned or the entire forum got taken down.
Would have liked to see some people's reaction there to this news

8

News Links / Re: Remains of Russian tsar's children possibly found - archeologists

« on: May 04, 2008, 06:41:36 AM »

Well, the Y chromosome testing is the only way to prove it's Alexei's remains imo. So they definately have to do that.

Of course that's not the only way. Y chromosome testing is usually done when no other resources are available, and here we have plenty. If his mtDNA matches and his nDNA proves him to be the child of N&A, then that's all they need. They don't need to do any Y chromosome testing, that would be completely redundant, not to mention a waste of time and money.

It is the only way to prove in 1 single test that the remains are from a male Romanov, who is not Nicholas.

It is absolutely necessary that they test for the presence of a Y-Chromosome... simply to prove the presence of a male.

I think we are talking about 2 different tests. What we were talking about earlier was the Y-chromosome test to prove relation, not gender... I believe they already know that there is a Y chromosome present and that the remains are male. When I referred to the Y-chromosome test, I was talking about an analogous test to mtDNA.

Proving presence of a Y-chromosome wouldn't be that much easier (or much cheaper for that matter) compared to proving relations through that Y-chromosome. The principle is exactly the same. The hardest, longest and most money-consuming step is probably finding enough good nDNA material. Once enough DNA is found and the wanted sequences are multiplied through PCR, the rest is easy routine...
It would cost me approximately 200$ to have my Y-chromosome DNA compared to that of my father so I don't think the cost of the test an sich is something to worry about here...

Another reason to involve living relatives might be to just have an extra body of evidence. The more evidence the better imo.

That would be redundant, not to mention a waste of money and time. Most reasonable people will accept the results without all that stuff. Not to mention that no matter what they do, there will be people who will question these results.

We all know how many non-reasonable people there are around
I still stick with my opinion that all the possible evidence we can find, should be found.
Imo, no evidence is ever redundant. Although it would indeed increase the cost, it wouldn't be that much imo. Once enough good DNA is found, the analytical tests themselves aren't the big money-swallowers.

I think it would be interesting to prove that Alexei's condition was indeed Hemophilia A

Most reasonable people have accepted that Alexei had hemophilia A. It would be interesting but this testing is best left for private parties who have nothing better to spend their money or time on... It's simply not necessary. 

Again, there are many non-reasonable people around :p
But you're right that it is not the highest priority at the moment. But imo, if they're doing the other nDNA tests, they might as well look for this while they're at it.

9

News Links / Re: Remains of Russian tsar's children possibly found - archeologists

« on: May 02, 2008, 12:07:53 PM »

"With the mitochondrial analysis completed, the team is working on the nuclear DNA analysis and comparing the samples to paternal relatives of the czar's family."

I assume they will be comparing the Y-chromosome DNA (if they find it) to that of Nicholas, but they might as well compare it with living relatives from Nicholas' side of the family as well...

That's why this doesn't make sense. If they do the Y chromosome test, which is when N's relatives may or may not need to come into the picture, then that wouldn't work for the female remains. If they do the nuclear DNA paternity tests, then there is no need to do the Y chromosome test (which is a lot more complicated from what I understand), and why would the relatives need to be involved? It doesn't really make sense either way.

Well, the Y chromosome testing is the only way to prove it's Alexei's remains imo. So they definately have to do that.
And to prove the other remains belong to the missing GD, they'll have to do nDNA testing on the female remains as well.

I was just thinking, did they ever find nDNA on the first remains? mtDNA is far easier to have survived (since there's far more of it) than nDNA.
If they have no nDNA from Nicholas, they'll have to compare it with relatives ofc.
Another reason to involve living relatives might be to just have an extra body of evidence. The more evidence the better imo.
People could start questioning the initial DNA tests or the initial remains or whatever (as some most probably already have and always will). But then again, if that evidence didn't suffice, what would...

I also really hope they'll be able to prove the presence of the faulty factor VIII gene.
Do they know which gene was flawed in the Victoria-Alexandra hemophilia line?

I don't think they will be doing that, as it is redundant. They didn't do it for the other remains because it was not necessary, and I doubt they will do it for these. All they need to do is a paternity test to see if the nDNA matches the parentage of N&A's nDNA, and that will be proof enough. That should also show that the female remains are different from the other 3 younger female remains, and for the male remains, as long as nDNA and mtDNA match and the female remains match, nothing else is necessary.

As far as which gene was flawed, it would be the one that codes for Factor VIII protein of course.

Well, that's what I was asking. Why is it so sure it would be Factor VIII? As far as I know the seperation between Hemophilia A and B (Factor VIII fault, Factor IX fault respectively) can only be determined for sure through DNA testing. You could make a conclusion based on symptoms and severity, but that's not 100% conclusive I would imagine.

And it's not needed indeed and some might call it redundant. But I think it would be interesting to prove that Alexei's condition was indeed Hemophilia A (which is something some people still don't want to believe).
It's not needed to prove any identity or something, but why not test it just for the sake of knowing?

Grtz,
Oliver

10

News Links / Re: Remains of Russian tsar's children possibly found - archeologists

« on: May 01, 2008, 11:54:06 AM »

"With the mitochondrial analysis completed, the team is working on the nuclear DNA analysis and comparing the samples to paternal relatives of the czar's family."

This statement is confusing. They would need to compare the nuclear DNA to the parents' nuclear DNA, not to the relatives of the Tsar...

I assume they will be comparing the Y-chromosome DNA (if they find it) to that of Nicholas, but they might as well compare it with living relatives from Nicholas' side of the family as well... I also really hope they'll be able to prove the presence of the faulty factor VIII gene.
It all adds to the body of evidence.

Although absence of that gene doesn't necessarily prove it's not Alexei imo. If it was hemophilia (which I don't doubt), it doesn't necessarily have to be that gene which was affected. It could have been a factor IX problem (hemophilia B) as well.
Do they know which gene was flawed in the Victoria-Alexandra hemophilia line?

11

The Alexander Palace / Re: 3D Alexander Palace

« on: March 31, 2008, 10:25:15 AM »

You Sir, are an artist!

12

Tsarevich Alexei Nicholaievich / Re: Alexei watching movies on Pathe projector/Gebbs not knowing his afliction

« on: February 25, 2008, 01:54:46 AM »

From Wiki: It tells the story of a young woman named Elaine who, with the help of a detective, tries to find the man, known only as "The Clutching Hand", who murdered her father.

Here you can read the entire story: http://www.infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/etext04/eelai10.htm

13

Tsarevich Alexei Nicholaievich / Re: Alexei watching movies on Pathe projector/Gebbs not knowing his afliction

« on: February 23, 2008, 06:56:11 PM »

Ah, this one seems more plausible indeed
And the first chapter is called 'the Clutching Hand'. That might explain Gibbes adding 'hand' in the title.

14

Imperial Russian Antiques / Re: fake/spurious "Faberge" and "Imperial" items

« on: February 18, 2008, 06:31:12 PM »

Good news!
Apparently a friend did take a picture of the presumed Fabergé egg that night in Vienna
He'll mail the picture soon. I'll upload it here the moment I get it

Grtz,
Alexander

15

Imperial Russian Antiques / Re: fake/spurious "Faberge" and "Imperial" items

« on: February 11, 2008, 07:42:37 PM »

Yeah, I'm quite sure I'll go back to Vienna a few times in the future since I haven't seen half of what I wanted to see

And about St-Petersburg: I do at least 1 city-trip each year but the problem about Russia is that I'm not a fan of big group travels at all and the stories I keep hearing about Russia (even from Russian people) deter us to go on our own or with a few friends without learning Russian first. So I'm not sure yet what to do. But I will definately go soon, even if it means following the big group thing.

OT: thx for the info
I realise I didn't have much information to start with but as you said, maybe it's more fun thinking that it could have been a real one instead of knowing it's a fake