COVER N. 548 - ALGERIA

Postmark: With Gaza FDC 29.11.2024

Posted on the 29th November; Received on the 31st December 2024

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On the 7th October 2024, a brutal, horrific, inhuman, absolutely horrendous and despicable terrorist action was taken by militants of Hamas against citizens of the State of Israel, during which, as it is well known, more than  200 Israelis were cowardly captured and taken as hostages of the terrorist group, while more than 1200 other were brutally assassinated.

Not long after that, Israel invaded the Gaza strip and began a military operation that will forever be remembered as another horror mark in the history of mankind. The brutal, barbaric and totally disproportionate actions of the state of Israel continue to this day, having already caused a total of more than 44,000 deaths  on the Palestinian side, 70% of which being of women and children.

Meanwhile the western world, that so justifiably is concerned and supportive of  Ukraine against the horrendous Russian invasion, turns a blind eye on a conflict that has raised to the ground  a territory with 2 million people blocked within, with no escape possibility, condemned to try to survive in the harshest conditions with no access to the simplest commodities or means to answer the more elementary basic needs.

I read that Benjamin Netanyahu underwent prostate surgery this week.... I would invite him to a simple empathy exercise.... I'm sure there are citizens in Gaza who must need prostate surgery too.... would he be willing to exchange positions with any of them?

Hate fosters but hate.... 

How many of those children now suffering the unthinkable, like the Jewish people once suffered in ghettos, will grow up to be heralds of peace? How many of them will grow up to be Luther Kings, Gandhis, Mandelas? Or will many of them  grow up to be easily brainwashed to tie a flag around the head, and pull the trigger of an ak-47 or the safety pin of an explosive belt tied to their chest? 

The few still living hostages suffer horribly as do their families, uncertain of their fate, while hospitals, schools, playing grounds are erased, as if empty, as if all the people taking meagre shelter in them or the children playing soccer to ward off their fears were but shadows or some sort of invisible beings.

An eye for an eye,,,, a terrorist for hundreds of innocents...., while God supervises the actions... on both sides...

Pope Francis and António Guterres... theirs the loudest voices calling for reason while the despicable spectacle of "negotiations" for a cease fire between Hamas and Israel continues, as if either party was really interested in it....

The day will come when Palestinians and Israelis will live together in harmony. Their two States, might even one day share a Capital city... the first steps were, in time,  taken... a giant leap for Mankind in a simple handshake between Arafat and Rabin... both later eliminated by their own (the later for sure, the former, presumably...)

When that day comes, no map like the one on the cover will ever more be shown. The colour section will also show the boundary lines between two sovereign States - Israel and Palestine - with their differences, their idiosyncrasies but also with all that they share. If not anything more, (and I’m sure there is plenty) the human condition of their citizens. 

It doesn't take much... just will, reason and commitment for justice and Peace.... And it has been done before… but it takes a totally different kind of actor from both sides…reasonable, tolerant, democratic persons, minds that are really interested in making the most of their own differences, isn't that right, Maestro Barenboim, Doctor Said, Mr. Kaufman?

The Postal Administrations of Arab countries were invited to create a joint issue expressing solidarity with Palestine during the  27th session of the Council of Arab Ministers of Communications and Information, held on January 18, 2024 in Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates).

For this, and subject to the theme "With Gaza" a common stamp design competition was held, the Jordanian proposal having been chosen.

The selected project shows a child wearing the iconic Palestinian keffiyeh around the head, gazing anxiously through an explosion hole in the rubble through which a Palestinian flag and some white doves can be seen.

So far I could find information about this joint issue stamp having been released by  Syria, Jordan, Qatar, Algeria, Morocco, Oman and Tunisia, other Arabic countries being expected to follow suit. 

The Algeria issue, in the form of a single 120 Dinar stamp souvenir sheet, issued on 29NOV2024 was used on the First Day Cover that I received when the year was drawing to its end from Hoceine. Shukran, Hocine!

COVER N. 547 - CHINA

Postmark: Shangai (?) 01.12.2024

Posted on the 1st December; Received on the 30th December 2024

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And now for something completely different (and I do think that beginning a new year with a quote from Monty Python is thoroughly adequate....😀)... drum roll, please.....

The Asian International Stamp Exhibition 2024 took place in Shangai, China from the 29th November till the 3rd December 2024, subordinated to the theme "Stamps present Asian Culture". 

According to a reference in China news, some 69 countries and regions were represented in the event, the competition section of which numbered more than 1600 frame exhibits plus 48 philatelic literature pieces... hard times for the jury.....

Ravindra kindly sent me this rather umcommon piece  featuring a comemorative  mechanical stamp and cancellation, which bears the exhibition's logo. Thank you so much, Ravi!

Oh, and by the way:

Happy 2025 to all of you.... !

COVER N. 546 - BOLIVIA

Postmark: Agencia Boliviana de Correos -  Recaudacion  - Admission - La Paz 03.12.2024

Posted on the 3rd December; Received on the 24th December 2024

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La Paz, I would swear that in the whole wide world there is not a more beautifully named city. La Paz, the city of Peace, high in the Andean Plateau... and I got a letter from there on Xmas Eve... if only it could be a sign of things to come... La Paz coming to all men... even those of ill will....

Thank you so much whoever was it that made sure I'd get it... There's a sender on the cover, but I do suspect that there was someone else behind this nice Xmas present. I couldn't be more thankful!

Breaking News, Have just confirmed it... the usual suspect... none other than my friend the Flying Dutchman.. :-) Gracias Daniel e Muito Obrigado, Eric!

There are rare birds and then there are those that are almost illusive, to the point of being thought forever gone. The  Apolo cotinga, or Palkachupa (Phibalura boliviana), went unseen to human eyes for a period two years short of a century. The last sighting of the species had occurred in 1902, until in 2000, in was rediscovered in the region of Apolo.

Total population of this passerine of the Contigidae family was calculated in 2011 to number about 600 individuals all distributed in  the same living area and it is considered to be highly endangered due to loss of its habitat, the moist high altitude savana,  caused by extensive agriculture and cattle raising. IUCN lists it as Endangered.

On 18OUT2017, Correos de Bolivia issued a two stamp set dedicated to endangered bird species featuring the Palkachupa in the 0,5 Boliviano stamp (two on the cover) and the Horned curassow (Pauxi unicornis) on the 3 Boliviano stamp.

Cacique Enriquillo (1498-1535) a native of what is now the Dominican Republic was the leader of the first uprising against the Spanish colonisers in 1519. A national hero for the Dominicans, his statue, which is replicated in the 23 Bolivianos stamp on the cover issued on November 2024,  celebrating the friendly relations between Bolivia and the Dominican Republic, can be seen in the Museum of the Dominican Man, in Santo Domingo.

The very neat bi-colour postmark was applied at La Paz... and I have to say it again... what a beautiful name for a city.....

COVER N. 545 - SRI LANKA

Postmark: Headquarters P. O. Colombo Mail 10.09.24

Posted on the 11th December; Received on the 18th December 2024

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 'Tis the Season to be Jolly, and as I said before a propos my friend Fraser's Xmas letter, there are still good will people who skip the email apps to send their wishes for the Season replacing them with the traditional card card on a letter with Xmas stamps.

Ravindra is one such kind case. Bohomȧ  sthoothi, Ravi!

I have to confess I was a bit intrigued. I knew that Christianism in its several forms is not one of the most professed religions in Sri Lanka. In fact, it seems it ranks 4th, after Buddhism (70), Hinduism (13%) and  Islamism (10%), being the cult of approximately 8% of the population.

So in times like the ones we live in, when religions seem so many times to be more a dividing and conflicting factor than a common ground for understanding, it is nice to see a country with a Christian minority, issue a nice set of stamp celebrating Christmas, what can only be seen as a measure of tolerance and religious freedom, something I strongly believe in, even if being an agnostic.

The beautiful souvenir sheet with two stamps (110 and 50 Rupees) illustrated with Nativity scenes was issued by Sri Lanka Post on 30NOV2024.

Quoting direct from a page that is devoted to him "Vincent Subasinghe (1906 - 1985) was a Sri Lankan philanthropist, social worker, social entrepreneur and an active member of Sri Lankan renaissance movement during the British colonial times. He is considered to be the “father of the cooperative movement" in Sri Lanka". 

Honouring his memory, Sri Lanka Post issued on 24AUG2024 a 50 rupee stamp featuring his effigy and the Sri Lanka co-operative movement logo.

Postmark from the P.O. Headquarters, in Colombo, as usual.

COVER N. 544 - MADAGASCAR

Postmark: Antananarivo Antanimena Madagascar 28.10.2024

Posted on the 28th October; Received on the 16th December 2024

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Madagascar, the land of Imense baobabs, outlandish lemurs and intriguing chameleons....How could I not be nothing less than elated to be able to add a cover from this rather uncommon origin to my collection?

Hartelijk dank, Eric, Muito obrigado! Once again, "with a little help from my friends" finds a fitting translation into this humble blog.

Independent since 1960, this former French colony in the Indian ocean, the 4th largest island in the world, separated from the African Continent by the Mozambique Canal is famous for its biodiversity, with 90% of the species therein living being endemic and as such not be  found everywhere else.

Judging from the cover Eric so kindly made sure I would get, stamp diversity is also an attribute of the Island state, and no less than 6 different stamps were used to post the cover to Portugal. 

Strangely enough a CN222 Customs declaration sticker was also affixed tot he envelope, at a given moment of its transit, and it had to be lifted upon arrival, since it was covering the information about the Post Code in my address.

Claude Debussy (1862-1918) .... la mer.... claire de lune... la cathédrale engloutie... some of the most beautiful piano scores of the early 20th century bear the signature of this French  composer considered to be the first of the impressionist composers.

On 29SEP1988, the Postal Services of Madagascar issued a six stamp set dedicated to Musicians, which included the stamp on the cover dedicated to Debussy, illustrated with his effigy and a scene from his sole opera, Pelias et Melisande, in the background.

The other stamps on the set were dedicated to Carl Philippe E. Bach (80 MFr); Franz Schubert (250 MFr); Georges Bizet (170 MFr); George Gershwin (550MFr) and Elvis Presley (1500 MFr)

A one stamp souvenir sheet was also issued (1500MFr), and it featured Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

Nothing against good old Elvis, but to see him in the company of the other 5 makes him look sort of "the odd man out" of the group.

A set of 5 definitive stamps dedicated to the cultivation of Rice, was issued in 2001,  all stamps being identical except for the dominant colour (and value, of course) . The blue stamp, originally with a face value of 1120 Ariary (the national currency of Madagascar, introduced in 1960) was again reissued in 2021, with a 1000 Ariary surcharge, as featured on the cover.

As expected from a place with such rich biodiversity, Flora and Fauna are common Madagascar stamp issue themes. The 5000 stamp featuring a  Propithecus candidus,  a critically endangered lemur, was issued on 15JUN2015aas part of a three stamp set which also featured two members of the Plantae kingdom:  a  1500 Ariary stamp with a photo of an Hildegardia ankaranensis and a 1000 Ariary stamp with a photo of a Ouratea obtusifolia, both of these being local endemic plants, I suspect.

The ubiquitous  Goldfish (Carassius auratus) sadly swimming around and around in many a small water pot in many a children's room around the world is the theme of the single stamp souvenir sheet with a face value of 20000 MFr, issued on 27MAY1994. Further to the souvenir sheet, the issue comprised another seven fish tank beauties depicted on 10; 30; 45; 95; 2x 140 and 3,500 MFr.

Zheng He was a Chinese navigator, born in 1371 in what is now Jinnin, in the province of Yunnan.

Among his navigation feats were seven voyages undertaken between 1405 and 1431 in the Pacific and  Indian Oceans  and also the in the Persian Gulf. Some claim he also reached America during his maritime explorations.

On 16OCT1997, the Postal Service of Madagascar, issued a 5700 MFr  one stamp souvenir sheet celebrating the valiant explorer. 2 of the satmps were used on the cover, the one on the right having been glued onto de frame of the souvenir sheet, hiding it from view.

World Post day is celebrated every year on the 9th October and as its is well known it is not uncommon for Postal Services to issue celebratory stamps for the occasion.

The  300 MFr on the cover with a map of Madagascar with a logo on top that I would suspect to be the emblem of the Postal Services at the time was issued on 21OCT1997.

The postmark was applied at the country's capital, Antananarivo.

COVER N. 543 - BRASIL

Postmark: A CC Beiramar Shopping Florianopolis - SC 14.11.2024

Posted on the 14th November; Received on the 11th December 2024

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The second cover from Brazil that I got on the same day, this time from Lucia. Muito obrigado, Lucia.

 

For the main postage on the cover, Lucia used a pair of stamps from the recent issue dedicated to unconventional food plants, in itself an unconventional theme too, albeit a rather interesting one.

Some of these stamps had already been used by Luis on cover #502 so this is an adequate opportunity  for continuing the comments I incuded regarding that particular cover.

As such these two stamps are part of the  6 x "1º Porte de Carta" set issued on 23ABR2024 by the Empresa Brasileira de Correios e Telégrafos, dedicated to unconventional food plants. 

Further to the  stamp illustrated with a  Vinagreira (Hibiscus sabdariffa), that had already been used on cover #502, Lucia used a stamp illustrated with the Xanthosoma taioba, or just Taioba, in Brazil, a member of the Araceae family, whose leaves and corms are edible and very commonly so.

Candido Portinari was an outstanding painter and muralist. during his lifetime he produced a large corpus of works which can now be seen in such important places like the United Nations Headquarters, the Library of Congress or the MOMA  in the US, or the Museu de Arte de S. Paulo, in his native Brazil.

His work is profoundly marked by social themes as  typical of the neo-realist school and I am glad had the chance to see one of his paintings once in the Portuguese Museum of Neo-Realism, in Vila Franca de Xira, in a temporary exhibition.

On 26MAY2004 Correios do Brasil issued a five stamp definitive set  (0.55; 0.80; 0.95; 1.15 and 1.50 Reais) themed on the missing paintings of Candido Portinari. 

In fact, most of the painter's works are "hidden away" in private collections so his son João Candido Portinari founded in 1979 "Projecto Portinari" with which he aims at giving the people the opportunity to get to know the invaluable work of his father.

This stamp set should be seen in the light of this objective too, I presume, and the  1.5 Real stamp  which can be seen on the lower left corner of the cover, depicts a painting called Marcel  Gontrau, created as part of a set of illustrations for an edition of André Maurois' Romans.

 The Postmark indicates that the letter was mailed from a post office installed in a shopping mall - Beira Mar Shopping - in the city of Florianópolis, the Capital city of the State of Santa Catarina in the south of Brazil.

COVER N. 542 - BRASIL

Postmark: A C Central SE/SPM 250.11.2024

Posted on the 25th November; Received on the 11th December 2024

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Muito obrigado Luis, for this cover with stamps evocative of  old times, and also for the stamps inside it.

Valve radios. I will never forget the beautiful Nordmende radio that my father had bought probably before I was born and from which all the music that accompained me during my formative years untill I was about 15 had flowed into the air in our living roor or into the reel to reel tape recorder (also valve based, of course) whith wich I would record what I could not buy, either for lack of resources, or sheer local unavailability. 

Then, one day, for my sister's birthday, dad bought onbe of those combos with a turntable, a radio and even a cassette recorder...... and, most of all, two dettached loudspeakers...what an upgrade...

Valves, the source of wonder, were already being replaced by transistors at the time, but the Phillips reel to reel had one which emmited a green light that I found absolutely mesmerising....

The 4 stamps on the  cover themed on vintage radios and valves (1,25; 1,85; 1,95 and 2,55 reais were issued on 14FEB2018 in as souvenir sheet which also contained a couple of vignettes. When folded by the perforations the lot  could be assembled into a miniature vintage radio cabinet. Quite spiffy.

The definitive stamp with a Manicurist, (1 RS) belongs to the second definitive issue of the Professions series and it began to circulate on 06NOV2006.

As customary with Luis' covers this one was posted in the city of  São Paulo.