COVER N. 277 - JAPAN

Postmark: Yokohama Kanagawa Japan - 28.06.2023 

Posted on the 28th June; Received on the 10th July 2023

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Sardines....

Officially, Portuguese and Japanese first met in 1542, when Portuguese sailors first arrived in Japanese soil. 

The relationship between the two was soon deepened by commercial reasons, Portuguese traders acting as middlemen in selling to the Japanese Chinese goods like silk and porcelain which the Chinese Emperor had embargoed as an avant la lettre economical sanction motivated by the actions of Japanese Pirates against Chinese territory and subjects.

Of course, The Japanese were also highly interested in the miraculous weapons the Portuguese first showed them... muskets, and what more solid staple to further economic relations than…  weapons....but again I digress, since I have to go back to sardines.

Why?

Because they are the main theme of the sheet containing 10 self-adhesive 84Yen stamps, issued on 28JUN2022, of which 2 stamps can be seen on the FDC Akira kindly sent me. Thanks a lot Akira!

Of note is the fcat that the stamps feature some delicate silver printing that really stands out in direct light.

The set, as indicated above comprises  ten stamps. Eight of them are illustrated with images of sardines, one with a diver and another one with a turtle (also on the cover). I see no reason for the inclusion of these two last stamps in the sheet other than contributing to the  layout of the sheet composition, which mainly features a school of sardines.

And what do sardines have to do with Japanese-Portuguese relations?

Well, that I know of, nothing, but I had to begin the post somewhere and sardines, for a Portuguese, have almost the same semiotic value than  "a Portuguesa",  our national anthem.

In fact, come the summer months and there's no place in Portugal where the smell of fat sardines being grilled on a coal barbecue won't permeate the air.

Sardines are such a Portuguese thing that the logo for the Capital's annual city's festivities is a sardine, "dressed" in the winning proposal of the contest which is annually organised to this end. 

Of course, grilled sardines is not a Portuguese exclusive, but I doubt it that there is another country where the humble yet delicious dish occupies such a central place in the country's gastronomy...

I wonder if they  are also consumed fresh in Japan....

(tac tac tac tac tac tac--- sound of keys being fast pressed on keyboard)

Yes, they are, grilled, pickled, raw...

Then that's it; that's the link I needed to bring all this text together.... 

The very nice FDC  was sent from Yokohama, as attested by the amazingly clear postmark and although I cannot understand the wording on the commemorative postmark, I cannot but be awed by its quality both in what concerns graphism and application.

All this typing late at night… guess what I’ll be having for lunch tomorrow?

POSTCARD N.107 - RUSSIA

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 4th June, received on the  5th July 2023

Postcard image: Tupolev TU-144
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Just returned from the first part of my holidays, it's time to catch up with the nice stack of potential blog entries I have on my desk.

So, without further ado...

As it is the norm with Julia's letters, inside the nice cover she had sent me,  and which I posted as Cover 276, was a great aviation themed card.

Thanks a lot Julia!

The Tu 144 was the soviet counterpart of the Concorde. Although its maiden flight took place on the last day of 1968,  two months before the Franco-British project,  it would only begin its rather short commercial career, comprising but 55 flights between Alma-Ata in Cazakistan and Moscow, in December 1977, that is some 2 years past the first commercial Concorde flight, which took place on 21 January 1976.

The design similarities between the two aircraft are rather apparent and  although the Soviet design was bigger,  the two protruding retractable canards aft of the cockpit on the TU 144 were the most striking difference on first look. 

To this day, the Tu-144 holds the title of fastest commercial aircraft, with a maximum cruising speed of 1,510 mph (2,430 km/h), while the Concorde topped at 1,354 mph (2,179 km/h).

I was a lad of 13. And I dreamed of being a pilot when I grew up.

On my black  and white TV (well, in what concerns colours, my set was as good as any other working in Portugal at the time, since colour TV was still a long way  into the future), aircraft and aviation programmes were few and far between, so I was really excited to watch the direct transmission from Le Bourget of the display flights of the 30th Salon International de l'Aéronautique et de l'Espace de Paris-Le Bourget, the 3rd June, 1973.

The more so since the two great looking new supersonic passenger aircraft would be flying. Trembling with anticipation, I sat on the couch that was usually and hierarchically used by my father  in front of the Tv set and waited for the big moment.

After the uneventful flight of the Concorde, the Tu-144 took off for what was to be an equally normal display flight, when all of the sudden the aircraft went into a dive and broke up, crashing into the ground. I couldn't believe my eyes and I remember feeling rather sorry for all those on board, which I immediately knew had perished. (the total victims tally of the accident was14 dead: 6 on board and 8 in the ground, plus 60 badly injured).

Many years later, my dreams of becoming a pilot definitively shelved, I watched in utter discomfort the footage of a Concorde in flames flying into what was to be and equally horrendous and even more deadly crash ....

The end of an era, but I will never forget the early evenings (1978, was it?) when I would go to the terrace at Lisbon airport to watch the Concorde depart from our capital.... oh, the noise.... oh, the magnificent plumes of the afterburners setting the night alight.......

POSTCARD N.108 - FRANCE - DROM-COM - RÉUNION

Postcard sent on the 29th June, received on the  11th July 2023

Postcard image: Postman 1830
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Reunion Island is  the southermost territory of the European Union. Located in the Indian Ocean to the East of Madagascar, it is not the kind of place that a European Union native like my own self would,  at first glance think about being able to go to without having to get his passport stamped or without having to endure the hassle of having to exchange money into the local currency. Still, as it stands, La Réunion allows us, EU nationals, this not so little priviledge. 

Since, like any postcard or cover collector, I love to receive mail from uncommon and unexpected places, I was rather pleasantly surprised to see this very nice postcard,  from Alex "the Phantom",  waiting to be picked up in my letterbox.

Thanks a lot, Alex. It is a perfect postcard for a blog called "Thank you Mr. Postman"...or should I say, "Merci, Monsieur le facteur", who, in 1830  dressed up as illustrated in the image, in order to go do his delivery round in the French cities. Rather dandy but probably highly uncomfortable,  as was the norm with 19th century clothing, if my opinion is permited.

The pre-paid postcard was issued  on the occasion of the "Journée du Timbre, 1975", a philatelic  event that was redenominated Fête du Timbre in 2000, and which is celebrated in every French city with an active philatelic association.

The image illustrating the printed stamp is that of a Postman identifying plaque. No date being indicated, I'd presume the plaque to be contemporary with the image of the postman.

The postmark identifies the local of expedition of the postcard as Cilaos, a city ocuppying the crater of an ancient Volcano, in Central Reunion Island, a French overseas territorty.

 COVER N. 276 - RUSSIA

Postmark: ПОЧТА РОССИИ - УCОПО КАЛУГА  248097 (Russian Post - Kaluga Post Office 248097) 04.06.2023 

Posted on the 4th June; Received on the 5th July 2023

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Russian aicraft....but these do not drop bombs on defenseless civilians, mere pictures they are. 

If only the other, whizzing over the skies of Ukraine, could also be but pictures...images of mechanical beauty, a reminder of man's ability to defy physics, not Man himself...

A cover with a picture of  aircraft on it....nothing more, nothing less. Sent, I'm sure,  with the best intentions, since the sender knows I do like aircraft and always tries very hard to take that into consideration.

And yet it  disquiets me to look at that particular picture on the envelope - such is the power of images - knowing what those beautiful Sukhoi aircraft are being used nowadays for...

This notwithstanding, thanks a lot Julia! For this letter and for all your care in always trying to surprise me with a beautiful cover that matches my particular interests.

Stamps left to right

- Hugo Chavez (1954-2013), was President of Venezuela from 1999 until his last days.

A controversial personality, he is seen as a champion of the poor by some and a populist tyrant by others.

To his credit he does have  a strong decrease in the levels of poverty in the country during his mandates, but at the cost of individual liberties and democratic values, it is argued.

In spite of this, the positive effects of his measures have long faded  and even if poverty has decreased from 62,5% of the population in 2021 to 50.5% in 2022, Venezuela is still one of the most inequal countries in Latin America, due to a number of factors, including the fact that the economy was deeply rooted in the oil industry - thus exposed to oil prices fluctuation - international isolacionism,  corruption, it being argued that the Chavez' policies, continued by Nicolas Maduro, led to this sad state of affairs...

In all, another sad episode in the proverbial South American saga of social and political unrest fuelled by unjust and totally assimetric wealth distribution and geopolitics that ever so often leads to disasterous consequences to those who suffer the most and have access to the littlest. 

As a side note, I have to say I am a little afraid of having this stamp of Hugo Chavez on my blog so close to the Juan Carlos stamps on the previous post, lest a repetition of the famous "por qué no te callas?" incident at the XVII Ibero-American Conference ensues... 😀

On the occasion of the first anniversary of Hugo Chavez death, Russia post issued, on 28Jul2014, the 15 Ruble stamp seen on the cover.

- The Ilyushin Il14, was meant as a substitute and an improvemenf over the Lisunov Li-2, the Soviet version of the ubiquituos DC3/C47.

In itself a revised and improved Il-12, the Il-14 first flew in 1950 and entered service eith Aeroflot in 1954.

With a crew of 4, in the passenger transport version it could accomodate a maximum of 32 passengers.

The Il-14 had an empty weight of 12,600 kg and a Maximum Take Off Weight of 18,000 kg, and was equipped with two Shvetsov ASH 82T engines,  each delivering 1,909 hp.

On the 23rd October 2019, Russia Post issued a mimi sheet comprising five 50 Rubles stamps and a vignette, aknowledging the 125th anniversary of the death of Sergei Ilyushin. The stamps are all illustrated with images of Ilyushin designed aicraft while the Vignette contaibs a portrait of Sergei Ilyushin himself.

The Postmark indicates the cover was mailed from the city of Kaluga.

COVER N. 275 - SPAIN

Postmark: Oficina Postal de Madrid - 03.07.2023 / Madrid O. P. 03.07.2023

Posted on the 3rd July; Received on the 6th July 2023

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Alex, The Phantom, passed close by, it seems, considering it is only about 600 km from Madrid to this keyboard, as the bird flies.

This time he sent me a nice kitschy cover with stamps of yore and also a current tariff B stamp just to make sure I'd get it . Thanks a lot. Alex... rather spiffy!

The red and blue stripes and the composition evoke much more than just stamps and envelopes, to me: why not a boxing ring? a fight... as old as Man, between good and evil, justice and unjustness, freedom and oppression...

Laaaadies and Gentlemen... on the lower left corner, the quintessential Hero, he who will fight the cruel giants, alone, against all odds, Dooooooon Quijote de la Mancha and his faithful helper Sancho Panza;

On the right upper corner, the cruel giant himself, the dictator,  Francisco Franco, the man who ruled Spain for 40 years with total disrespect for the fundamental rights of his fellow citizens... just like his Portuguese counterpart, Salazar....

Decades passed since the dictator's own passing, I'm pleased to note that  el Caballero de la Triste Figura won the fight in the end, as attested by the General Election coming up in a week's time right across the border, a normal democratic procedure that now everybody takes for granted, but also something that did not happen for quite a long time in the Iberian peninsula, both in Spain and in Portugal, and it was not that long ago, because I do remember quite clearly those times!

Stamps left to right

- On 12NOV1980 Correos de España issued their annual Christmas emmission, comprising two stamps (10 and 22 Pesetas). The lesser face value stamp on the cover is illustrated with an image taken from the Holy Family Mural in  Church of Santa Maria de Cuiña (La Coruña).

- Stamp Day 1980 was clebrated with the issuance on 28JUN1980 of the 8 Ptas. commemorative stamp on the cover, illustrated with the image of a mounted postman, taken form a 12th Century Panel from Banco de la Capilla Marcus, Barcelona.

- Public Transport as an sustainable and rational option has been promoted for quite a long time through many campaigns and media.

On 20FEB1980, Correos issued  a rather nice three stamp set (3, 4 and 5 Pta.) dedicated to this theme.. The 3 Pta. stamp on the cover is illustrated with an image of a train and bears the slogan "Utilice Transportes  Colectivos" (Use Public Transport means).

- If Franco will not be remembered for the best reasons, Juan Carlos I will forever be acknowledged as the promoter of Spain's return to democracy, a task that he immediately took to, right after becoming King of Spain, just two days after the dictator's demise.

Unfortunately, in his later years, he also made it to the headlines for reportedly engaging in  elephant hunting in Botswana, and in alleged controversial businesses in Saudi Arabia, what will probably gather him much more history dust than the light he collected for his important political role.  

The two stamps with Juan Carlos I portrait are part of the definitive series that was issued between 1976 and 1974. The 1.50 Pta. was issued on 15JUL1976 and the 1 Pta. on 08FEB1977.

- Pedro Vives Vich (1858 - 1938) was the first Spaniard to fly in an aircraft and a fundamental name in the development of Spanish aviation, having also been the founder and first Director of the Spanish Air Force.

On 10DEC1980, Correos issued a four stamp set (5, 10, 15,22 Pta.) dedicated to "Pioneers of Spanish Aviation" and besides Pedro Vives, who is portraied in the 5 Pta. stamp with an Henry Farman HF 3 in the background, the series also honoured pioneers Benito Loygorri; Alfonso de Orleans and Alfredo Kindelan.

- On 17MAY 2012, Correos issued a set of 2 self-adhesive  stamps dedicated to Civic Values, the one on the cover,  Tariff B (Europe),  calling on  attention to inclusiveness in sports and a Tariff C stamp (rest of the world)  highlighting the need to end child poverty. 

Further to the regular postmark of Madrid's main Post office, Alex had the ancient stamps on the envelope cancelled with a nice pictorial Matasellos also of Madrid’s central Post  Office, which has been in use since  2015.

 COVER N. 274 - FRANCE

Postmark: Maison Caillebote - Yerres  Essonne  91 Yerres 1er Jour - 23.06.2023 

Posted on the 23rd June; Received on the 3rd July 2023

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Another great first day cover from France.  Thank you so much Roland! 

I'm happy to report that the protective plastic cover did its job perfectly and the cover looks absolutely pristine, as you can see.

The first thing I noticed the moment I took the envelope out of my letterbox is that it is signed by Geneviève Marot, who I immediately suspected and later confirmed, is the artist responsible for the creation of the stamp and the postmark. 

Covers signed by the stamp authors are a really nice touch and I truly appreciate the extra mile Roland went to make sure I'd get this.

Now on to the stamp itself.

I have to confess that Gustave Caillebotte is not a name that rings any bell in my ROM cells. so I googled it, of course.

I also have to confess that after googling it, I'm even more ashamed to say so, because from what I saw, Monsieur Caillebote was truly a damn fine impressionist, even if his paintings appear much more realistic that the usual impressionist ... impressions, so to speak 😀.

That being said, I probably have  crossed his path in one of the fine arts museums I so much love to visit, but I really can't remember having ever seen one of his beautiful paintings.

Gustave Caillebotte was born in 1848 and died in 1894 and further to his importance both as a painter and a patron of the impressionists, he also had a plethora of other interests ranging from boat design and gardening to... philately.

In fact, he and his brother, Martial, started a stamp collection when stamps were still in their first generation - (the penny black entered service in 1840)  and over the years they must have reunited an awfully good lot of stamps because according to the Maison Caillebote's website, when the collection was sold, in 1887, to an English collector, who would later donate it to the British Museum, the price paid equalled 5 Million Euros in 2011 prices... that's quite a lot of stamps if I may say so....

The main theme of the stamp is not Caillebote the painter and collector, though, but Caillbote, the House.

What is now known as the Caillebote House is part of an estate located in what were the domains of  the Seigneurs d'Yerres, on the 16th century. The house  itself might date back to those times, having been refurbished and renovated over the years by its successive owners. In 1830, it become the property of  well known Chef, by the name of Pierre Frédéric Borrel, who gave it the neo-classical  aura it exhibits today.

Following the bankruptcy of his fabled Parisian restaurant -  le Rocher de Cancale - Borrel sold the full estate,  which would later be bought by the father of Gustave Caillebote, in 1860.

The painter would live in this house up until 1879, when, following his mother's death in 1878, the estate was again sold, Gustave going to live to Paris.

The estate would be bought and sold a couple of times until in 1973 it came under the property of the city of Yerres and from 1995 the city would renovate the house with a view to bringing it to its full ancient glory, and also transforming it into the art centre for contemporary art it is today.

The simple yet beautiful stamp, issued on 23JUN2023, llustrated with  a line drawing of the House Cailebote in blue and gold legends identifying the  subject - Maison Caillebote - and its location - Yerres, Essone - was created by Geneviève Marot, whose signature, as I mentioned above, can be seen on the left upper corner of the cover.

COVER N. 249 - CYPRUS  

Postmark: No postmark 26APR23

Posted on ?; Received on the 8th May 2023

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Un update on a curious cover.

In the entry pertaining to cover 249, I mentioned that Alex had ask me to return the cover that had come from Cyprus without a stampmark, so that he could try to get it applied.

Don't ask me how he managed to get it, but the fact is that here is cover 249 properly stampmarked, and with an additional couple of Portuguese marks on the back, due to the fact that the envelope was travelling opened...

Thanks a great lot, Alex!

COVER N. 273 - USA

Postmark: First day of Issue Roy Lichtenstein - 24.04.2023 / New York NY 1019 - 24.03.2023

Posted on the 24th April; Received on the 30th June 2023

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One of those beautiful stripped air mail covers, made even more beautiful by the perfect stamps and postmarks layout.... and it really should not have been any other way, after all it is one of the 20th century's most well-known artists that is celebrated ... and painters are usually picky about form and layout and composition...

Thank you so much, Stephen, for an absolutely gorgeous cover!

I first heard about Roy Lichtenstein in high school... I can't remember if on a Drawing or a Portuguese class though. Probably the latter, since  I don't think I had drawing classes during the last two years of secondary education and also because my Portuguese teacher who was a well known writer - Virgílio Ferreira - and man of immense culture, would feed us lots of  information (particularly about the classics - he taught Latin too, IIRC-) about arts in general ... if only, at the time, I had the drive to absorb it all...

Even though I don't clearly remember where, I do have this vivid image of seeing and being impacted by images of Lichtenstein's and Jasper Johns' works in a class, them being my introduction to pop art.

Lichtenstein’s larger than life comics frames, the use of pontillism replicating enlarged printing dots, the “Bang” and “Pow”  balloons....the vivid colours,  all that made a strong impact on me ... That and the word "Pop", I presume, after all, this simple word put fine arts artists in the same league as George Harrison, Bob Dylan or Lou Reed, and that for me was like a beacon flashing in the night... "Hey, you've got to see this...."

Many years later, when my eldest daughter was spending an Erasmus season in Barcelona, I went to visit her and discovered a Roy Lichtenstein sculpture that had been commissioned on the occasion of the 92 Olympics held in Catalonia's capital. 

Gone was the absolute figurative style of the initial comic strip paintings, traded for a freer, unbound conception, aesthetically bordering surrealism, but with all the trademark elements in place: the dots, the colours, in a way even the figure itself, for the central role that human figures, heads, i. e. faces, in particular, played in his initial paintings.

El Cap de Barcelona, the Head of Barcelona, the sculpture is named... not for me though....

Love at first sight! Now, that's more like it!

Sorry for the lampost in the background.... didn't notice its presence when I pressed the shutter.... :-(

- "Portrait of a Woman" and "Standing Explosion (Red)" are the names of the paintings that illustrate the two self-adhesive Forever stamps, part of a group of 5, all graced with works of Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), issued by USPS on 24APR2023.

The stamps are cancelled with a first day of issue postmark befittingly rather reminiscent of the graphic universe of Lichtenstein.

- Lichtenstein, rhymes with Einstein and, in a way, the latter is like one of the giant  "POWs" of the former banging on my rather limited brain, so dense are the implications of the theories that made Einstein one of those names that everybody is familiar with, although but a few understand why that is so.

On 04MAR1979, that is the precise day I become 19, USPS issued the quite fine single 15 cent in-taglio printed stamp honouring the 1921 Nobel Prize Winning physicist, on the left side of the cover.

- Steamboats have no need for Quantum Physics or Relativity, they just needed steam to force the wheels to turn, thus conquering inertia and drag and propelling the hull over the river waters. 

History has it that it was Robert Fulton (1765-1815), who first crafted and put to use one such vessel, the Clermont,  in 1807, the mighty first steamboat transporting passengers on the Hudson between New York and Albany, both ways, each representing a 240 km journey that would take about 32 hours to complete.

Fulton would also do research on submarine construction and he would produce what is acknowledged as the first practical submarine in the guise of the Nautilus, built in Rouen, France, at his own expense, in 1800, and later improved upon with funding from the French military. 

Although trials proved its efficiency and effectiveness as a weapon delivery vector (the submarine would be used to place a mine on the hull of the enemy vessel and then make it explode after gaining safe distance), the project never entered service with the French military, nor with their enemies, the British, to whom Fulton turned later to, trying to sell his invention.

On 19AUG1965, 200 years after the birth of Robert Fulton, the United States Postal Service issued the  5 cent commemorative stamp that can be seen on the cover, honouring the memory and achievements of Robert Fulton, the in taglio printed stamp being illustrated with his effigy and a profile line drawing of the Clermont.

The cover was mailed from New York, as indicated by the regular day and  First day of issue postmarks on the stamps.

COVER N. 272 - GERMANY - FELDPOST

Postmark: Feldpost 6412 19.06.2023

Posted on the 16 June; Received on the 28 June 2023

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A simple yet vey interesting addition to my collection, for which I have to thank Alex, the Wandering Phantom, for. 

It is not that usual to get mail from military service stations on foreign countries, in fact it it the first time I ever got one such letter, this one being postmarked with a military postal service stamp from Mali.

The German military forces in Mali are integrated in the  United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), established in 2013 following the approval of UN Resolution 2100 that called for the deployment of a peace keeping force of 11200 military personnel and 1440 policemen to support Malian authorities in their struggle against terrorist actions by such groups Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) and Ansar Eddine.

Germany is 10th overall and the first European country in the ranking of participating countries in MINUSMA, a mission wherein there is also a very limited Portuguese participation.

The 1,10 € stamp on the cover is part of the "World of Letters" definitive series started in 2021, this particular stamp having been issued on 01MAR2022.

AS stated above the Postmark indicates that the letter was processed through Germany's Military Postal Service - Feldpost, code 6412 corresponding to the city of Gao, in Mali, West Africa.

COVER N. 271 - USA

Postmark: ? 20.05.2023 (?) 

Posted on the 20 May (?); Received on the  22 June 2023

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What would life be without mysteries? and I am not talking about the "great" existential mysteries with which we are confronted from the moment we begin to question our perception of what surrounds us, whether tangible or not. These I have long ago solved by dropping a Kubrikian monolith over them all.

That is to say, if science provides the answers - and it continuously moves forward, slowly shedding light into the darks of the unknown  in spite  of the paradoxically ever growing obscurantist forces and movements that  also ceaselessly try to blow out the advancing torch of enlightenment and knowledge -  the better; if not, I'll resign myself to the limitations of  my human condition, absolutely convinced that the Bible got it right, even if  I'm not a believer, for "thou art dust, and to dust shalt thou return", a simple empirical finding that in itself is but a way of enunciating Lavoisier's  mass conservation law, or as our enormous Fernando Pessoa said through the mouth of Alberto Caeiro, one of his magisterial heteronyms: There are metaphysics enough in thinking about nothing....

Luckily, mysteries can be much less disquieting than those above:

Take this cover I received from the US some days ago:

Three nice stamps, a return address, which I erased from the scan, as usual, for privacy reasons, but no addresser's name.

Inside a beautiful postcard signed by someone who could be named Tayne, or Jayme or Jayne.

I am convinced that the sender must be a postcrosser who forgot to include the postcard ID number, and now I cannot register it on the platform. 

In order to prove my theory, I've searched the Postcrossing user's database for the State mentioned on the return address and I did find a Jayne. So I've emailed her... let's see if I get this thing solved or if I will have another lingering doubt to add to the multitude of questions I have amassed throughout my more than 6 decades of being....

Stamps left to right:

- Joel Sartore has been on a mission, which luckily has been well publicised, so there is no need to get into great detail here. Suffice to say that in the 18 years that have passed since he started his amazingly ambitious project of photographing every living species in human care, out of a total of 25,000, he has already photographed more than 14,000 producing exquisite images that have been exhibited throughout the world, in books and....in stamps.

On 19MAY2023, USPS issued a sheet of twenty Forever self adhesive stamps dedicated to the Photo Ark Project illustrated with photographs by Joel Sartore.

The Laysan teal, Anas laysanensis, the duck featured on the satmp on the cover, is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands but it now thrives only on the Laysan Island and in two atolls. It has been slowly recovering from a minimal count of 12 surviving individuals in 1912, but is still listed as critically endangered in IUCN's red list.

- "To infinity and beyond!", who would forget the uplifting and immortal words of Buzz Lightyear, one of the most loved animation character from one of the most loved animation movie series.

USPS changed them to Go Beyond, an empowering proposition, a motto for life, in the five forever self-adhesive stamps illustrated with images of the Toy Story character, issued on 03AUG2022, of which one can be seen on this cover.

-  Chief Standing Bear (1829-1908), was a Ponka tribe Native American who would distinguish himself in the fight for civil rights for  Indians, having been the first native American to be granted civil rights under American law, when Judge Elmer S. Dundy ruled on 12 May 1879 that "an Indian is a person"... 

Honouring his legacy, 115 years after his demise, USPS issued on 12MAY2023 the single Forever self-adhesive stamp with his portrait which can be seen on the cover.

Other than the  20, (which I presume May) and Saint...the postmark is illegible.

COVER N. 270 - ISRAEL

Postmark: Tel Aviv - Yafo 23.05.2023 

Posted on the 23 May; Received on the  22 June 2023

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Another cover with nice stamps from Israel. Thank you so much Yair!

 

The 2,6 new shekel stamp issued on 26APR2022, is the year's issue for the celebration of  Israel's Memorial Day, a national remembrance day for the fallen soldiers of the wars of Israel and the victims of actions of terrorism.

Terrorism is indeed a plague.... as is occupation, walls,....  If only reason would speak louder than guns, not only here but everywhere....

Cacti of Israel was the theme of the 5 se-tenant 2.5 Shekel stamp strip issued on 15FEB2022 from which the cactus stamp on the cover was taken. The stamp is illustrated with a cactus of the genus Echinopsis, which are  characterised by the fact that they are usually covered with plenty of spines, thus resembling an hedgehog or a sea urchin - hence the radical Echinos on its designation, and beautiful flowers, much larger than one would expect.

Other stamps from this same set had been previously used by Yair, and these can be seen here.

The postmark indicates that the letter was sent from Tel-Aviv.

POSTCARD N.106 - TAIWAN

Postcrossing postcard sent on the 8th June, received on the 19th June 2023

Postcard image: Songzhi road, Xinyi District, Taipei 
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A self-made postcard with an image of what is one of the most busiest shopping streets in Taipei, Michelle so tells me.

A quick search on the internet also provide me with the information that the Xinyi district in Taipei is the area with the biggest density of shopping malls in the world, no less than 14, so I suspect that when and if I'll visit Tawain one day, it won't rank as a priority in my places to visit list, since I feel shopping malls are much like cruise ships: once you've been in one (and I confess I've never and probably won't ever, unless there's no alternative), you've been in all of them....

This does not mean that I wasn't happy to receive Michelle's card, which of course I was, and it won't also refrain me from wishing her happy shopping, since she seems to enjoy it a lot!

I should also clarify that I do see advantages in the shopping mall concept. The convenience of having all you need to buy in one place promptly available with extended working hours is, of course... convenient, but I do acknowledge the effects they have on local small commerce and their contribution to transforming towns into lifeless dormitories.

also the inebriated shopping culture they thrive on with its constant appeal to consumism is something against which I try to shield myself as best as I can... 

I remeber when shopping malls were a novelty here... correction, I remember when big supermarket chains were a novelty here... correction, I remember when 1st generation neighborhood suppermarkets were a novelty here  (yes, I'm that old 😀). 

I remember when window shopping was a walk downtown. It all has changed since. All except one thing:

midway through our promenade we would pass by an home appliances shop and on the window, amidst the washing machines and fridges, there would always be a TV set turned on. As the promenade was usually on the weeked, invariably the TV would be airing a soccer match, so there would always be quite a few people stationed by the window nervously watching.... some 60 years after, If I go to my neighbouring mall on a weekend.... 

The 6 Taiwanese new Dollar stamp used by Michelle to mail the postcard is part of a set of two (6 and 13 NTD) issued on 01DEC2020, announcing the Year of the Ox, that would begin in 2021.

COVER N. 269 - GERMANY

Postmark: Garching B. München 85748 - 14.06.2023 / Briefzentrum 85 14.06.23

Posted on the 14  June; Received on the 19th June 2023

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The more the merrier, so says the old aphorism, and I couldn't be more consonant with it, upon receiving another of Alex's unexpected but always interesting covers.

This time, no less than 7 stamps on the cover, each with its own individual postmark, a couple of postmarks on the envelope too, plus a mechanical double cancellation on all the stamps too... Ah, all that and three more postmarks on the back of the envelope...

Thank you so much Alex, unique, to say the least :-)

- On the 10 June 1923, the departure flag for the  the first ever  race at the Schleizer Dreieck circuit was waved thus inaugurating a tradition that would persist to this day.

The non-permanent circuit is located close to the Turigian city of Schleiz and all over its history has had three major iterations, the current configuration having been set out in 2004 with a total length of 3.805 km, that is to say, about half the original 7.631 km of 1923.

Of note is the fact that the circuit is one  the few where races are generally ran in counter-clockwise fashion, although ramp and slalom events that also take place on it run in the more orthodox clockwise direction.

The circuit hosts car races but also bike and sidecar events and holds the distinction of being he oldest motor sports circuit of Germany.

On 01JUN2023, Deutsche Post issued the 0,85 € stamp that can be seen on the left upper corner of the cover, celebrating the centenary of  the Schleizer Dreieck circuit.

- Moving on to the opposite corner of the envelope, the 80 Pfennig stamp with an image of  the Lutheran  St. Reinoldi Church, Dortmund, the city's oldest church, was issued on 05APR2001, as part of a definitive series dedicated to sights of Germany.

- The 0,10 € "message in a bottle" stamp, of which there are no less than four on the cover, was issued on 02NOV2022 as part of the current definitive "World of Letters" series.

- The 0,05 € water lilly stamp is also part of the "World of Letters" series and it was issued on 02DEC2021.

The manual postmarks tell us that the cover was mailed from Garching bei München, a city located close to Munich where the first German research nuclear reactor was installed in 1957. This was considered such a significant event that the reactor's dome features on the city coat of arms.

The mechanical postmarks indicate that the letter was processed via Briefzentrum 85, located in Munich Airport.