UNPA 2014 Stamp Program

Wow, finally, India will be on the World Heritage series.  

I am looking forward to it.  I am not a big fan of the coin and flag series, don't know why.  

I wonder how the International Yr. of Family Farming will come out though, think it might be photos?

FDC of the day - Belize: Birds

Some of the most beautiful, most colorful birds in all Central America - indeed, all the world - live in the tropical forests of Belize.  Among these are the Blue Crowned Motmot, as shown on the 25c issue, and the Ocellated Turkey, on the 45c issue.  The Motmot nests in the ground rather than in trees.  It digs its nesting holes between August and October, the rainy months while the ground is soft; and then returns in March or April, the breeding season, to inhabit the nest.  Another forest dweller is the magnificently colored Ocellated Turkey.  It boasts a rainbow like plumage of green, blue, gold and copper-bronze, and nothing is quite so grand as this bird in its proud posture of courtship, with its feathers outstretched.  Like the Motmot, the turkey builds its nest in well hidden places in the ground.  Both of these birds are considered among the most attractive birds in the New World.

 

Pandas from Singapore -- JiaJia/KaiKai

Thanks to Edmund, I've received this cute cover from Singapore with pandas.  Read his detailed article about the pandas here.

I also just realized the the first name of the stamp designer is also Edmund :) What a popular name!


















Coincidentally, this year, the UN postal service also issued a set of stamps with a panda as part of their on going Endangered Species series. 

I guess we all love pandas! Here is a cover I sent to Eric who maintains an excellent blog about stamps in French and English. 

FDC of the day - BAT: Whale Conservation

Released Jan. 4, 1977, at Halley Bay, a British scientific station in Antarctica, these four stamps illustrate endangered whales.  On the 2p stamp is a Sperm, unusual in that it has no whalebone with which to catch its food, but is a toothed whale with teeth in the lower jaw only - forty in all, each about 8 inches long.  On the 8p stamp is a Fin.  Often called the Ocean Greyhound, its is gracefully streamlined, very fast and reaches 80 feet in length.  On the 11p stamp is the Humpback which reaches a length of 50 feet.  On the 25p stamp is a Blue.  The Blue can reach a length of 100 feet, but, due to intensive whaling, is rarely seen in the lengths over 80 feet.  Whales are mammals.  Dissection of a whale's flipper reveals the same (though modified) skeleton as the fore limb of a terrestrial ancestor.

 

 

1950 Moscow Skyscrapers Set

I receive emails from various stamp newsletters and this article is really interesting.  As you know, Russian stamps in the Soviet Union era are very unique, and I think they are quite beautiful.  Enjoy.

 
This iconic series of stamps was issued to commemorate the construction of a series of post-war skyscrapers in a brave new Moscow. Built to rival those in the US they were designed in the distinctive Russian Baroque style and known in Russia as Stalins Skyscrapers and in English to the western world as as the “Seven Sisters”.

In fact the stamp designs feature 8 buildings whereas only seven were planned and of those only six were constructed. They continue to dominate the Moscow skyline and comprise the Smolenskaya Square Building (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Krasnye Vorota (Red Gates Building), Moscow State University (until 1990 the tallest building in Europe), Hotel Ukraine (now the Radisson Royal), Hotel Leningrad (now the Hilton Moscow Leningradskaya) and the Kotelnicheskaya Apartment Building. Also constructed was the Kudrinskaya Building which was not featured on the stamps whilst the featured Vosstaniya Square and Zaryadye Buildings were not constructed.

Much of the driving force for these buildings came from Stalin himself, determined that a victorious post war Russia should not be seen as backward and his hand was evident at every stage of the process, from chosing the architects to chosing which parts of the city should be levelled to make way for them. Most of the detailed planning decisions were made in secret but his masterplan was for a massive 10 lane highway to encircle the city with these monuments to a modern, winning Russia sited to give an impressive cityscape. Much of this was implemented but falling short of the original grand design.


credit to Sandafayr.com

London 2010 International Stamp Exhibition

Can't believe it's been 2 years already. It seems like just yesterday when I was traveling around London with that red double decker.  WooHoo..

Anyway, yes, I was in London in May of 2010 for the international stamp show and it was my first time stepping in Brits soil.  Yea yea, I know this post is really late :(  But Eric from France has covered the show brilliantly and extensively so I thought I was not going to waste your time. Please see his article here.

I had fun shopping around and one thing that really caught me off-guard was that a lady from the Australian postal service recognized me from attending Washington 2006 4 years ago. That was really shocking, what is the odds of that happening?  Someone reconizing you from 4 years ago and had met you only 1 time?  Do I have a special face? LOL .. hope not. But it was really sweet that she remembered me. On the other hand, I am really bad with names or faces.

I had a lot of fun obtaining commemorative postmarks from various postal services. When I was in Washington DC for the 06 show, I bought a philatelic passport and was really busy stamping them. However, it was just not the same as stamping on a real COVER!

Here is a cover I made and mailed to myself. I sort of bumped into the Royal mail postal service by accident. It was not located in the main hall where Royal mail sold their products but it's in a different room on the right hand side of the main entrance to the show.

As you can see, I've sort of trying to confuse the postman by having all these stamps from different postal administrations. Haha..

 But I guess it's really hard to miss that big golden bust of the queen on this one!

Check Out Guide to Stamp Collecting (Collector's Series) from Amazon

我的第一次代办邮品-{联合国}6月3日日本和平钟50周年纪念

MsYanWu Jan, 28 2006 

My first assignment of making real posted FDC for the 6/3 50th Annv. of the UN Japanese Peace Bell 

在专题网上看别的邮友代办邮品看多了, 开始心痒痒 的, 也想着自己代办一些邮品. 以前单纯的收藏邮票时, 基本上跟其他世界各地的邮友是没有什么交集的, 顶多也是在邮票店里碰到, 寒喧一下. 怪不 得有人说过, 集邮是"a lonesome man's hobby". 这句话听起来有点道理, 虽然不一定赞同. 

After seeing so many of my fellow stamp collectors trying to help other collectors to get a real posted FDC, I wanted to do it myself too.  Back in the days, I was just collecting stamps, no covers and no interactions with other collectors.  At max, I would just engaged in brief conversation but nothing further.  Stamp collecting is "a lonesome man's hobby".  Well, make sense but hey no I am not by myself.  Yay. 

代办日 记：6/03 纪念封, 白封 已全部寄出!!! 代办过程还算顺利, 就是累了点, 呵呵, 因为卖邮票的柜台离盖戳的有点距离, 为了办得漂亮, 来 来回回跑了很多次.  办的4个钟头里, 碰到无数个中国同胞寄明信片回大陆.......到联合国一游. 呵呵.. 大家看到我一大堆封都很好奇的行注目礼哦!! 我 问过了, 纪念邮戳跟日戳不能同时盖.  所以要求日戳的朋友, 我都是直接把信封放进邮筒里, 收到信封的朋友请传上来看看, 我自己也没看过 噢.  纪念戳盖得非常的满意, 油墨很足, 邮局里的人盖得很仔细, 相信你们会喜欢的.  另外好消息....大家的地址都是手写..

UNPA 2011 stamps program

FDC of the day - Sweden: Rococo

1979 Sweden - Rococo Movment

At the beginning of the 18th century, Sweden entered an age of social freedom that is most beautifully reflected in the arts.  The stamps in this issue were designed to honor this flowering of a  new Swedish culture.  And what better way to begin than with an elegant pot-pourri pot which one held fragrant petals and herbs?  Next the portrait by Johan Henrick Scheffel presents the serenity of an ageless woman in a style so life like, you almost expect her to move or speak.  A swirled coffee pot reflects the fast moving times which introduced a brand new drink called coffee.  And finally, the bust of Carl Johan Cronstedt, designer of the first Swedish tiled stove, show not a traditional hot but a beret like cap similar to those once worn during sauna baths.

FDC of the day - Australia: Regional Wildlife

1983 Australia - Regional Wildlife

The comical Light-mantled Sooty Albatross, the stately Macquarie Island Shag, the elegant Royal Penguin, the graceful Antarctic Prion, and the massive Elephant Seal, are all natural wildlife that can be found on the remote Macquarie Island - a lonely stepping stone in the Southern Ocean, about half way between Australia and Antarctica.  Macquarie island, which is actually part of Tasmania, is considered by many naturalists to be one of the world's most remarkable wildlife sanctuaries.  In fact, since 1971, it has been a national park under the control of the Tasmanian National Parks and Wildlife Service.

FDC of the day - Botswana: Traditional Artifacts

１９８３　Botswana - Traditional Artifacts
Botswana is a landlocked African nation wedged between Rhodesia and the Republic of South Africa.  The Kalahari sands drift across the country's great plateau and are cut only by tow large rivers, the Okavango and Kuando which branch to form a mighty inland delta.  This FDC features four stamps from Botswana honoring the traditional artifacts of the tribal peoples.

The 7t stamp depicts beautifully decorated spoons whose designs are burnt into the wood.

Small segments of dried reeds are drilled and then strung on fibers to make the perosnal ornaments pictured on the 15t stamp.

The 35t stamp depicts an ox-hide milk bag known as a lekuka.  This article is still made and used today by the tribal cultures.

Decorated knives are shown on the 50t stamp.  The tribal men hung these ornate knives from a cord around their necks or from their waist.

Cover to Swap - UN One Planet

  

On 6 May 2010, the United Nations Postal Administration issued six se-tenant mini-sheets of four stamps each (for a total of 24 commemorative stamps) on the theme "One Planet, One Ocean", on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the International Oceanographic Commission (IOC).

 

Just thought this is a pretty colorful or un colorful :P undersea s/s to trade for some of your covers.  Contact me if interested.  Hehe..

Sunday Funnies V

 Dennis the Menace





LOL - Dennis can be described as "that" trouble kid every parent would have to go through because the creator of Dennis the Menance draws the same inspirations from his family and of course, his son Dennis.

This wraps up our tour of the Sunday funnies stamp tour.