Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Volunteerism


As 2011 marks the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers, Hongkong Post recognises that volunteers are making a notable difference in diverse fields, showing the world the true meaning of love and care. Hongkong Post announced that a set of special stamps on the theme of "Volunteerism" will be released for sale with associated philatelic products on March 29.

Volunteerism is an important social service that promotes not only a sense of sharing and affinity, but also cultivates civic-mindedness and personal development. In recognition of the meaningful role played by volunteer workers towards enhancing social harmony and inclusiveness, Hongkong Post is proud to take part in celebrating the 10th anniversary of the International Year of Volunteers.

The four stamps depict the rewarding experiences gained and positive contributions made by different age groups engaged in delivering essential community services. Particularly noteworthy is the innovative design concept adopted for the sheetlet that mimics a diary page, which captures some memorable moments and features a heart-shaped stamp as a centrepiece symbolising the noble spirit of volunteerism.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Vintage cars


Aland Postal Service issued four new stamps that each have a postage value of 1st Class named "Vintage Cars in Aland" on the 4th of March 2005. The four stamps depict four different vintage cars found in Aland. Each of these wonderful cars is described below.
  • Oakland Sport Convertible - Was the first car out on the road in 1928 and is now owned by Gustaf Sauren who lives on the island of Sottunga in the Aland archipelago. It was first registered in Turku and had the same owner for 40 years. The car has been completely restored and is being used by its owner to drive around the island.
  • Ford V8 - on the road in 1939 this shining black Ford was purchased by Anders Hedenberg and his father in Turku in 1943. In 1952, the car was sold to Bjarne Jannson who sold it to another owner. Then in 1984 Anders Hedenberg and Bjarne Jansson repurchased the car and restored it to its original condition.
  • Buick Super 4D HT - is a classic red-and-white American car owned by Sune Mattsson in Aland. It was imported from Sweden from the USA in 1978, and has won first prize in a show in Mariehamn.
  • Volkswagen 1200 - everyone has heard or seen a Volkswagen Beetle at one time or another. It is still a very popular model and is seen in almost every country. This beige Beetle was brought to Aland brand-new in 1964. It is now owned by a car company named Tor-Rolf Karlsson.
This wonderful cover was given to me by Pia.

Monday, November 28, 2011

Children's playgroups (preschool 10.10.1988


Early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Finland has two main goals. One is to fulfil the day care needs of children under school age and the other is to provide early childhood education. And the FDC given to me by Merja was issued on 10.10.1988 to commemorate this very important feature of Finnish Life.
Since 1973, the Act on Children’s Day Care has provided a framework for the implementation of day care. The Act clearly defines the physical setting for the provision of day care and the educational objectives. According to the act the objectives of day care promote the balanced development of children together with their parents. For its part, day care shall provide children with safe and warm relationships; activities supporting children's development in a versatile manner, as well as a favourable growth environment based on individual children's circumstances.
Day care in its different forms is the most important area of public ECEC activities. The Finnish ECEC-system consists of municipal and private services. Municipalities must offer day care in the official languages of Finland: Finnish, Swedish and Sàmi. Day care should also support the language and culture of speakers of Romany and children of immigrant background. Municipal day care is provided at day care centres and in family day care. Several local authorities also organise supervised play activities open to everyone in playgrounds and at open day care centres. The day care fees are based on family size and income level. Families with low incomes are charged no fee. Client fees cover about 15 percent of the total day care costs.
As of 1996, the parents of all children under school age have enjoyed the right to a place in day care for their child provided by their local authority. Since August 1997, it has also been possible for families to receive a private childcare allowance in order to provide their children with private care.
Pre-school education signifies the systematic education and instruction provided in the year preceding the commencement of compulsory education, which usually commences in August of the calendar year of a child’s 7th birthday. Voluntary pre-school education that is free of charge is provided in every municipality since August 2001 at an amount of no less than 700 hours per year.
Since the 1960’s the possibility for parents to stay at home to care for their newborn and small children has gradually improved. For this purpose, first maternity allowance and leave is granted and since 1989 maternity, paternity and parental leaves and allowances are available. The right to keep one's job during care leave is protected by law. In addition, since 1985 parents have been able to arrange the care of their children by means of the child home care allowance. The child home care allowance can be granted immediately after the parental allowance period ends and can be paid until the youngest child in the family is three years old or enters municipal day care.
After the parental leave period, families are therefore provided with three different options until the child begins compulsory school:
1. Caring for the child at home on care leave and receiving child home care allowance (until the youngest child turns three years)
2. Having the child cared for in private day care with the private child care allowance
3. Having the child cared for in municipal day care.
Well-educated and multi-disciplinary staff is one of the strengths of the Finnish day care system. The staffs in day care centres is required to have at least a secondary-level degree in the field of social welfare and health care. One in three of the staff must have a post-secondary level degree (Bachelor of Education, Master of Education or Bachelor of Social Sciences). The adult-child ratio in day care centres is one to seven for 3-6-year-olds and one to four for children under the age of three in full-time day care. When arranging part-time day care the ratio for 3-6-year-olds is one to thirteen and for children under three the ratio is the same as in full-time care.
Family care minders must have appropriate training. The adult-child ratio in family day care is one to four, including the child minder's own children. In addition, part-time care may be provided for one pre-school or school-aged child.
ECEC is realised in co-operation between various actors forming a wide network that provides services for children and families. These actors include social welfare, health care and education authorities, various organisations and communities that work in favour of children and families and parishes with their ECEC services.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

50th Anniversary of Surealism


Surrealism is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920s, and is best known for the visual artworks and writings of the group members. Surrealist works feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur; however, many Surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost, with the works being an artifact. Leader André Breton was explicit in his assertion that Surrealism was above all a revolutionary movement.

Surrealism developed out of the Dada activities during World War I and the most important center of the movement was Paris. From the 1920s onward, the movement spread around the globe, eventually affecting the visual arts, literature, film and music of many countries and languages, as well as political thought and practice, philosophy and social theory.

The stamps on this 1999 set were issued while celebrating 50 Years of Surrealism in Portugal. Paintings by 5 artists combined in one big sheetlet, they are all all Portuguese artists:

- António Domingues (stamp in first post)
- António Pedro (bottom left)
- Vespeira (middle)
- Fernando de Azevedo (top right)
- Moniz Pereira (bottom right)

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Milk Producers of Norway


This lovely cover and the pretty cow and goat stamps were issued by Norway on 24.3.1981 to commemorate the Centenary of Norwegian Milk Producers National Association, Thank you Merja for this lovely cover.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Icebreakers of Finland 7.8.2005


An icebreaker is a special-purpose ship or boat designed to move and navigate through ice-covered waters. For a ship to be considered an icebreaker, it requires three traits most normal ships lack: a strengthened hull, an ice-clearing shape, and the power to push through ice-covered waters. Finland depends heavily on her icebreakers to keep the sea lines of communications open. It is well known that seas around the Finnish coast are frozen even in normal winters at that latitude. No wonder they are so good at winter sports.
On 7 September 2005 The Icebreakers stamp booklet featuring Finnish icebreakers Urho, Otso, Fennica and Botnica was issued. The ships represent the last three generations of Finnish icebreakers. Each stamp shows the name and building year of the icebreaker, and also the name and building year of the sister ship. The four stamps of the booklet illustrate the 24-hour operation of the Icebreakers - the top stamp on the left depicts morning, the one below it depicts daytime ops, the picture on the top right indicates evening and the one below it nighttime ops. The oldest of the vessels in the stamp booklet, 30 years this year, is the icebreaker Urho. Otso was built in 1986. The ship is more modern in terms of technology and in particular more cost effective than Urho. Fennica, built in 1993, is the first multipurpose icebreaker in Finland. In the winter the multipurpose icebreakers sail in domestic icebreaking duties. In the summer they have offshore duties in the service of international oil and gas industry. The newest of the ships depicted on the stamps is Botnica. It was built in 1998 with advanced multipurpose icebreaker technology.
Graphic designers Ari Lakaniemi and Susanna Rumpu designed the Icebreakers stamp booklet. The stamps are based on photographs by Matti Lehto (scale models), jarmo Vehkakoski and jouni Klinga (background pictures). The price of the Icebreakers booklet is 2.60 euro. The stamp booklet contains 1st class non-denominated gummed stamps. Sointu sent me this booklet of four stamps on this pretty FDC.

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Aland's autonomy - 70 years


The stamp on the FDC shows the League of Nations meeting, where the quarrel between Sweden and Finland concerning Åland was discussed in June 24th, 1921. League of Nations concluded that Åland belongs to Finland, but that the province should be granted autonomy
This nice cover was given to me by Pia.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Equatorial Guinea Stamps of Old Aircraft


This sheet let of 16 stamps issued by Equatorial Guinea in 1975, of aircraft around the world from 1896 to 1940 are individually portrayed on these stamps. From the plane built by the Wright Brothers to the “Spirit of Saint Louis” and many others. This sheet is almost a history of aircraft evolution. It was given to me by Maria.

Equatorial Guinea, officially the Republic of Equatorial Guinea, is a country located in Middle Africa. It comprises two parts: a Continental Region (Río Muni), including several small offshore islands like Corisco, Elobey Grande and Elobey Chico; and an insular region containing Annobón island and Bioko island (formerly Fernando Po) where the capital Malabo is situated.
Equatorial Guinea has one of the worst human rights records in the world, consistently ranking among the "worst of the worst" in Freedom House's annual survey of political and civil rights and Reporters Without Borders ranks President Obiang among its "predators" of press freedom. Out of 44 sub-Saharan countries, Equatorial Guinea ranks 9th highest in the Human Development Index (HDI) and 115th overall, which is among the medium HDI countries.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Norwegian Engineering


These Norwegian stamps issued on 5.10.1979 commemorated the Norwegian advancement un Bridge-building, Dam construction rigs at sea and the science and technology advance ment per se. This interesting FDC was given to me by Merja.

Monday, November 21, 2011

Akseli Gallen-Kallela: posters 1.3.2006


Three 2nd class self-adhesive coil stamps. Picture motifs: ”Bil Bol” (1907), ”Erottaja 2” (1906), ”Concert Finnois” (1900).
Coil stamps with Akseli Gallen-Kallela motif were issued on 1.3.2006. This nice cover was gien to me by Pia.
The 2nd class non-denominated coil stamps represent the graphic art of Gallen-Kallela. They show the posters Bil-Bol (1907), Erottaja 2 (1906) and Concert Finnois (1900). The works belong to the collections of Gallen-Kallela Museum. The stamps are designed by Tapani Aartomaa.
Bil-Bol (1907) is a classic of Finnish poster art. Yrjö Weilin, the owner of the Bilaktiebolaget car dealer, commissioned the advertising poster from Gallen-Kallela for the Stockholm car exhibition.
Gallen-Kallela created Erottaja 2 for the symbolist Hugo Simberg's (1873–1917) Helsinki art exhibition poster in 1907. The poster was named after the address of the Gallery showing Simberg's etchings. Gallen-Kallela was Simberg's supportive private teacher in the 1890's.
The international breakthrough of Finnish art and Gallen-Kallela occurred in the Paris World's Fair in 1900. Gallen-Kallela led the work for building the Finnish pavilion, designed the furniture and textiles of the Iris room, and painted the frescos with Kalevala motifs on the centre cupola. A series of concerts presenting Finnish music was organised in connection with the World's Fair. Gallen-Kallela designed the Concert Finnois poster as an advertisement of the concerts.
Akseli Gallen-Kallela expressed his unique creativity displaying curiosity and with immense versatility. He was a painter, a forerunner of Finnish graphics and applied arts, but also e.g. a textile artist, sculptor and illustrator. His huge output includes paintings, graphics, and frescos, and also medals, flags, uniforms, and architecture.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

The Tortoise and The Hare



This is a story believed to be One of Aesop’s Fables most popular and often quoted.
There once was a speedy hare who bragged about how fast he could run. Tired of hearing him boast, Slow and Steady, the tortoise, challenged him to a race. All the animals in the forest gathered to watch.
Hare ran down the road for a while and then and paused to rest. He looked back at Slow and Steady and cried out, "How do you expect to win this race when you are walking along at your slow, slow pace?" Hare stretched himself out alongside the road and fell asleep, thinking, "There is plenty of time to relax." Slow and Steady walked and walked. He never, ever stopped until he came to the finish line.
The animals who were watching cheered so loudly for Tortoise, they woke up Hare. Hare stretched and yawned and began to run again, but it was too late. Tortoise was over the line. After that, Hare always reminded himself, "Don't brag about your lightning pace, for Slow and Steady won the race!". And from that day on, the watch-word of the truly successful became “Slow and Steady Wins the Race”.
Cyprus Post took this very story and issued these five lovely stamps in a miniature sheet.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Hameenlinna10.1.1989


This very interesting cover was given to me by Merja. Hämeenlinna is a city and a municipality of about 67,000 inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Häme in the south of Finland and is the birthplace of composer Jean Sibelius. Today, it belongs to the region of Tavastia Proper, and until 2010 it was the residence city for the Governor of the province of Southern Finland. Nearby cities include the capital Helsinki (98 km/61 mi), Tampere (73 km/45 mi) and Lahti (72 km/45 mi). The medieval Häme Castle (Hämeen linna) is located in the city. The municipalities of Hauho, Kalvola, Lammi, Renko and Tuulos were consolidated with Hämeenlinna on 1 January 2009.
There has been a settlement called Vanaja by the lake Vanajavesi in where the city now stands since the Viking Age. The castle was built in the late 13th century to secure the Swedish power in central Finland. A village was born near to the Häme Castle to provide services and goods to inhabitants. The village was granted city rights in 1639 and soon after that the King of Sweden moved it one kilometre south on the hill where it now stands. The city is known for its schools and academies where many famous Finns have studied. Schools, government and the military have characterized Hämeenlinna's life all through history. Finland's first railway line opened between Hämeenlinna and Helsinki in 1862. The current Hämeenlinna railway station was built in 1921.

Friday, November 18, 2011

750th anniversary of the City of Turku 31.3.1979


Pia sent me this nice FDC, which commemorated the 750th anniversary of the City of Turku. It was issued on 31.3.1979. The stamp features the Turku Cathedral and Castle, Brinkkala house, and the Brahe statue. The Brinkala Mansion is best known for the traditional proclamation of Christmas peace, which has been given from the Brinkkala Mansion balcony each Christmas Eve at 12:00 since 1886. Count Per Brahe the Younger (February 18, 1602 – September 2, 1680) was a Swedish soldier and statesman. He was a Privy Councilor from 1630 and Lord High Steward from 1640. He was a stickler for punctuality and efficiency. "Kreivin aikaan", or "at Count's Time" in the Finnish language means "at the correct/good time". The base of his statue in Turku bears the inscription "I was well pleased with the land and the land with me".
The City of Turku came into existence at Koroinen, a few kilometres from the Turku market square. Trading took place on this historic site as early as in the 1150's, and in 1229, the bishopric was transferred there as well. The year 1229 is also regarded as the year in which the City of Turku was founded. In the 1200's, much was happening in Turku. The Dominican monastery of St. Olof was being built on Samppalinna Hill, and the Castle of Turku was founded as well as the cathedral. The bishopric was transferred to Turku in the 1290's, and from that point on, the city held an important position in the Swedish-Finnish state for the next 300 years.
Finland's first university was founded in Turku in 1640, even though the number of inhabitants in the city was not very large at that time. The staple town charter (the right to conduct foreign trade) guaranteed, however, that trading was brisk. In 1827, a large section of Turku was dramatically destroyed in a fire. The burnt city needed an altogether new town plan, which was drawn up by C. L. Engel the following year. Because of its long history it has been the site of many important historical events and has extensively influenced Finnish history. For the year 2011, Turku has been designated to be the European Capital of Culture together with Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. In 1996 it was declared the official Christmas City of Finland.
Due to its location, Turku is a notable commercial and passenger seaport city with over three million passengers traveling through Port of Turku each year to Stockholm and Mariehamn. As of 31 January 2011, Turku’s population was 177,430, which makes it the fifth largest city in Finland by population. As of 31 August 2008 there were 303,492 inhabitants living in the Turku sub-region, which makes it the third largest urban area in Finland after the Greater Helsinki area and Tampere sub-region.

Thursday, November 17, 2011

The Kruzenshtern


Further to my post dated 2nd June, 2010 under the ‘Tall Ships” group in this blog, Nataliya sent me this lovely FDC dated 29.6.2006. The Kruzenshtern or Krusenstern is a four masted barque and tall ship that was built in 1926 at Geestemünde in Bremerhaven, Germany as the Padua (named after the Italian city). She was surrendered to the USSR in 1946 as war reparation and renamed after the early 19th century Baltic German explorer in Russian service, Adam Johann Krusenstern (1770–1846). She is now a Russian Navy sail training ship.
Of the four remaining Flying P-Liners, the former Padua is the only one still in use, mainly for training purposes, with her home ports in Kaliningrad (formerly Königsberg) and Murmansk. After the Sedov, another former German ship, she is the largest traditional sailing vessel still in operation.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Spanish Lighthouses 11.4.2011


This Lighthouses issue released by Spain is devoted to the following six Lighthouses: Calella (Barcelona), Chipiona (Cádiz), La Entallada (Fuerteventura); Cap de Sant Sebastiá (Girona), Castell de Ferro (Granada) and Faro Valencia. These stamps were issued on 11th April 2011, valued @ 0,65 €.
The lighthouse of Calella is located on a hill 50 m above sea level. It was inaugurated in December 1859. It first worked with oil and later with petroleum. It was electrified in 1927. It is currently in service and has a light range covering 35 nautical miles. The lighthouse of Chipiona became operational in 1867. It has a height of 62 m above the basement and consists of a conical tower. It initially worked with oil and then with petroleum. It was electrified in 1942. Its has a light range of about 80 miles. The lighthouse of Punta La Entallada in Fuerteventura is a square tower 12 m high, on a one storey stone building. It came into service in December 1954. Its light is white and its range is of 21 miles. The lighthouse of Cap Sant Sebastià is located on the mountain of San Sebastià de la Guardia 167 m above sea level. It was built in 1875 and is one of the main lighthouses of the Gulf of León. Its tower is 12 m from the base, the light is white and the range is of 32 miles. The Castell de Ferro lighthouse is built on a promontory 225 m. above sea level. It has a tapered shape and stands 9.40 m over the basement. It receives electricity through photovoltaic panels and has a light range of 14 miles. It was built from an old XI Arab watchtower. The lighthouse of Valencia dates from 1930 and King Alfonso XIII laid its foundation stone. Its tower is octagonal and masonry. It has a focal plane height of 30 m. The light is white and the range is of 25 miles.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Juho Pietari "Hannes" Kolehmainen 9.10.1989

Juho Pietari "Hannes" Kolehmainen (9 December 1889 – 11 January 1966) was a Finnish long-distance runner. He is considered to be the first of a generation of great Finnish long distance runners, often named the "Flying Finns". Kolehmainen competed for a number of years in the United States, wearing the Winged Fist of the Irish American Athletic Club. He also enlisted in the 14th Regiment of the National Guard of New York, and became a U.S. citizen in 1921. Kolehmainen, a devoted vegetarian and bricklayer by trade, was from a sportive family from Kuopio (his brothers Willy and Tatu, also an Olympian, were also strong long distance runners). He was one of the stars of the 1912 Summer Olympics in Stockholm, winning three gold medals. His most memorable was the one in the 5000 m. In that event, he ran a heroic duel with Frenchman Jean Bouin. After leading the field together for most of the race, Bouin was only defeated by Kolehmainen in the final metres – in World Record time. In addition, Kolehmainen won the 10000 m and the now discontinued cross country event. With the Finnish team, he also obtained a silver place in the cross country team event. At the time, Finland was still a part of Russia, and although there was a separate Finnish team at the Olympics, the Russian flag was raised for Kolehmainen's victories, making him say that he "almost wished he hadn't won". 


Kolehmainen's sportive career was interrupted by the First World War, but he remained an athlete to be reckoned with, although his specialty had now shifted to the longer distances, especially the marathon. At the first post-war Olympics in Antwerp, he won the gold medal in this event. He would also enter the Olympic marathon in 1924, but Kolehmainen did not complete that race. By then, Kolehmainen had found a worthy successor in Paavo Nurmi. Together with Nurmi, he lit the Olympic Flame at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki. He died in that same city, fourteen years later. 

This FDC was given to me by Merja.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Turku Cathedral1.11.1976


The Capitulum Ecclesiae Aboensis was founded in 1276. It was the first administrative office in Finland. The stamp, featuring the Seal of the Cathedral Chapter of Turku (Abo), was issued in 1976 to celebrate the 700th anniversary of the foundation of the Chapter. Seen on the cover is the Seal of the cathedral chapter of Turku from 1442. Chapter (Latin capitulum) designates certain corporate ecclesiastical bodies in the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Nordic Lutheran churches. The word is said to be derived from the chapter of the rule book: it is a custom under the Rule of Saint Benedict that monks gather daily for a meeting to discuss monastery business, hear a sermon or lecture, or receive instructions from the abbot, and as the meeting begins with a reading of a chapter from the Rule, the meeting itself acquired the name "chapter," and the place where it is held, "chapter house" or "chapter room."
Turku Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland, and the country's national shrine. It is the central church of the Archdiocese of Turku and the seat of the Archbishop of Finland, Kari Mäkinen. It is also regarded as one of the major records of Finnish architectural history. Considered to be the most important religious building in Finland, the cathedral has borne witness to many important events in the nation's history and has become one of the city's most recognizable symbols. The cathedral is situated in the heart of Turku next to the Old Great Square, by the river Aura. Its presence extends beyond the local precinct by having the sound of its bells chiming at noon broadcast on national radio. It is also central to Finland's annual Christmas celebrations. The cathedral was originally built out of wood in the late 13th century, and was dedicated as the main cathedral of Finland in 1300, the seat of the bishop of Turku. It was considerably expanded in the 14th and 15th centuries, mainly using stone as the construction material. The cathedral was badly damaged during the Great Fire of Turku in 1827, and was rebuilt to a great extent afterwards. This historical cover was given to me by Pia.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Tokyo Olympic Games 1964


The 1964 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan in 1964. Tokyo had been awarded with the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honour was subsequently passed to Helsinki because of Japan's invasion of China, before ultimately being cancelled because of World War II. The 1964 Summer Games were the first Olympics held in Asia, and the first time South Africa was barred from taking part due to its apartheid system in sports(South Africa was, however, allowed to compete at the 1964 Summer Paralympics, also held in Tokyo, where it made its Paralympic Games début) These games were also the first to be telecast internationally. The games were telecast to the United States using Syncom 3, the first geostationary communication satellite, and from there to Europe using Relay 1. The stamps featured in this sheetlet were issued by the Republic of Gabon.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

FIFA World Cup 2010


The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th World Cup, the world championship for men’s national association football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. The bidding process for hosting the tournament finals was open only to African nations; in 2004, the international football federation, FIFA, selected South Africa over Egypt and Moroccoto become the first African nation to host the finals.
The matches were played in ten stadiums in nine host cities around the country, with the final played at the Soccer Citystadium in South Africa's largest city, Johannesburg. Thirty-two teams were selected for participation via a worldwide qualification tournament that began in August 2007. In the first round of the tournament finals, the teams competed in round-robin groups of four teams for points, with the top two teams in each group proceeding. These sixteen teams advanced to theknockout stage, where three rounds of play decided which teams would participate in the final.
In the final, Spain, the European champions, defeated third-time finalists the Netherlands 1–0 after extra time, with Andrés Iniesta's goal in the 116th minute giving Spain their first world title, the first time that a European nation has won the tournament outside its home continent. Host nation South Africa, 2006 world champions Italy and 2006 runners-up France were all eliminated in the first round of the tournament. It was the first time that the hosts were eliminated in the first round. This fine cover was given to me by Merja.

Friday, November 11, 2011

The III Games of the Small States of Europe10.4.1989


The Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) are a biennial, multi-sport event, launched by the Republic of San Marino and organized by, and featuring the National Olympic Committees of eight European small states since 1985. The Games are currently held at the beginning of June, and feature competition in nine Summer Olympic sports. The 14th edition of the Games took place in June 2011 in Liechtenstein.
The FDC and stamps displayed commemorate The 3rd Games of the Small States of Europe were held in 1989 by the Republic of Cyprus. The majority of events including the opening and closing ceremonies took place at the Makario Stadium the whilst the indoor events were held at the Lefkotheo indoor hall. The very attractive stamps issued portray various track and field events. Merja gave me this lovely FDC.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Folk Costumes


Every three years the Nordic postal services issue Nordic stamps with a common theme. In 1989 Nordic stamps eighth in succession and the theme was “Folk Costumes”. The Norwegian stamps on this First Day Cover issued on 20.4.1989 feature a woman’s and a man’s costume. The woman’s costume is from Setesdal. This is an embroidered, richly adorned with silver costume. The costume has two skirts – ablack one worn over a white one. The headgear is a black woolen kerchief with a printed pattern of roses.

The man is wearing a Kautokeino costume. The cap belonging to this costume has a star shaped crown. Both the cap and the smock-type jacket are decorated with brightly coloured ribbons. The skirt of the jacket is pleated and the jacket is worn with a colourful leather belt.
The postmark represents the tongue of a shoe belonging to a folk costume from Hardanger, while the illustration on the cover depicts a brooch made by Frisenberg of Lillehammer in traditional Gudbrandsdal style. Merja gave me this pretty FDC.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Turtles


Noumea is the largest city in and capital of New Caledonia, lying on the main island of Grande Terre. One of the most westernised capitals in the Pacific Islands, it features beautiful beaches and colonial mansions and is not yet a heavily tourist destination. Where metropolitan French will hear a bad French accent, wince and say that they speak English, the Francophones of New Caledonia are either less willing or less able to accommodate Anglophones. It is probably a matter of capability, since they are marvellously willing to persevere in determining what it is that a foreigner needs. Without tourist-level French, you may find yourself lost--but it's a lovely place to be lost! The French spoken by Kanaks is much harder to understand than the French of people in Paris: on a par with Breton French (or think of the challenge offered by broad Scots or Yorkshire for a naive English-speaker). Noumea is the capital and vacation centre of the Islands of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Noumea is a "French" city, but the 91,000 inhabitants are a very mixed cultural group with French, Melanesian, Polynesian, Indonesian, Vietnamese, and lots of mixtures of these. Over 60% of the population of New Caledonia lives in Noumea. Noumea is a peninsula on the southwestern end of Grande Terre and the central business district (Centre Ville) is next to one of the best natural harbours in the South Pacific. The lagoon side of the peninsula has two picturesque bays with white sand beaches and is called Anse Vata and Baie des Citrons. These twin bays are the international tourism capital of New Caledonia with hotels, restaurants and bars on the landward side of "La Promenade". First settled by the French in 1854, Noumea retains close political ties with France. It has excellent schools and public facilities - parks, recreation areas, exercise paths, schools and medical facilities. Today it is the fastest growing city in the South Pacific. There are 23 hotels in Noumea ranging from one to five stars and over 100 Restaurants.
The stamps (issued in January 2002) in this very attractive miniature sheet portray a part of the wondrous marine life in the Caledonian seas. These turtles can also be seen in the Noumea Aquarium.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

12th International Salvage Conference 2.6.1975


Pia sent this very informative FDC. When property is lost at sea and rescued by another, the rescuer is entitled to claim a salvage award on the salved property. There is no "life salvage". All mariners have a duty to save the lives of others in peril without expectation of reward. Consequently salvage law applies only to the saving of property. There are two types of salvage: contract salvage and pure salvage, which is sometimes referred to as "merit salvage". In contract salvage the owner of the property and salvor enter into a salvage contract prior to the commencement of salvage operations and the amount that the salvor is paid is determined by the contract. The most common salvage contract is called a "Lloyd's Open Form Salvage Contract".
12th international salvage conference, Finland, stressing importance of coordinating sea, air and communications resources in salvage operations.
Date of issue (dmy): 2.6.1975
Designer: Paavo Huovinen. The stamp was issued on the opening day of the XIIth International Life-Boat Conference in Helsinki, June 2-5, 1975. The stamp depicts the rescue vessel "Niilo Saarinen" on duty.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Europa 2010 - Children's books 5.5.2010


Merja sent me this FDC Commemorating the International Children's Day The Cyprus Post issued a set of postage stamps in the EUROPA 2010 series on 05 May 2010 ; the theme is "Children's books". The stamps with values of ˆ0,51 were designed by Christina Vasiliadou, Limassol.

"Children Day", as an event, is celebrated on various days in many places around the world, in particular to honour children. Major global variants include a Universal Children's Day on November 20, by United Nations recommendation. Children's Day is often celebrated on other days as well. Children's Day in India is celebrated on November 14, the birthday of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who was the first Prime Minister of India after independence.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Brown bears of Finland 30.8.1989


The Brown Bear is the national symbol of Finland. Some 1,000 bears are estimated to live in Finland. There are excellent opportunities to see bears in Finland. In Finland there are currently about 800 to 900 brown bears and they distributed allover the country. Despite this, population density varies and is still rather low in western and southern Finland. Core area of the Finnish population is in the southeast of the country. At the beginning of the 20th century the brown bear nearly disappeared from northern Europe and the Finnish population reached its minimum around 1920. Afterwards the population started to grow again, first slowly, then with acceleration since the 1970s. The immigration of brown bears from Russia has been scientifically revealed for the first time then and dispersion to the southern and western parts of the country has been observed since then.
The Finnish population is estimated at around 1000 individuals, but despite this low figure it is still-hunted. Without reinforcements from behind the Russian border, Finnish bears would long since have been hunted to extinction. Most bruins live in the large wilderness areas on the Russian side of the Finnish border. When the hunting season starts, many move back to the quieter Russian backcountry only to return in spring after hibernation. Watching and photographing bears in Finland is possible. A good time is from the middle of April to the beginning of June when the bears have just awoken from their winter sleep. After this comes the rut, when eating is not the animals’ main concern. The best viewing time lasts from the beginning of July to the middle of August, when feeding points again have plenty of bears to watch and photograph.
The stamp designed by Pirkko Vahtero was awarded the second price in the International Philatelic Exhibition in Vienna WIPA for the best stamp of the year 1989. Since 1981 the organising committee of WIPA, the Vienna International Philatelic Exhibition, has awarded the annual Grand Prix de l’Exposition WIPA for the best postage stamp issued during any one year. The stamp is the highest denomination (FIM 50) Finnish stamp. The stamp and the cover were issued on 30.8.1989. Thank you Pia for this nice First Day Cover.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Iran - Bam Earthquake


The 2003 Bam earthquake was a major earthquake that struck Bam and the surrounding Kerman province of southeastern Iran at 1:56 AM UTC (5:26 AM Iran Standard Time) on Friday, December 26, 2003. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude (Mw) of 6.6; estimated by the United States Geological Survey. The earthquake was particularly destructive, with the death toll amounting to 26,271 people and injuring an additional 30,000. The effects of the earthquake were exacerbated by the use of mud brick as the standard construction medium; many of the area's structures did not comply with earthquake regulations set in 1989.
Due to the earthquake, relations between Iran and the United States thawed. The U.S. generally treated Iran as part of the "axis of evil", as its President George W. Bush referred to those states regarded to sponsor terrorism. However, following the earthquake the U.S. offered direct humanitarian assistance to Iran and in return the state promised to comply with an agreement with theInternational Atomic Energy Agency which supports greater monitoring of its nuclear interests. In total a reported 44 countries sent in personnel to assist in relief operations and 60 countries offered assistance.
Following the earthquake, the Iranian government seriously considered moving the capital of Tehran in fear of an earthquake occurring there. Psychologically the earthquake had an impact on many of the victims for years afterwards. A new institutional framework in Iran was established to address problems of urban planning and to reconstruct the city of Bam in compliance with strict seismic regulations. This process marked a turning point, as government ministers and international organizations collaborated under this framework with local engineers and local people to organize the systematic rebuilding of the city.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

International Tourism Year 1967 16.10.1987


The resolution of the United Nations Conference on International Travel and Tourism entitled "importance of tourism", which stated, inter alia, that tourism is a basic and most desirable human activity deserving the praise and encouragement of all peoples and all Governments. Bearing in mind the need for international co-operation in promoting tourism in view of its useful role in the educational, cultural, economic and social fields. Recognizing the importance of international tourism, and particularly of the designation of an International Tourist Year, in fostering better understanding among peoples everywhere, in leading to a greater awareness of the rich heritage of various civilizations and in bringing about a better appreciation of the inherent values of difierent cultures, thereby contributing to the strengthening of peace in the world.
Considering that the designation of an International Tourist Year will encourage the intensification of national and international co-operative efforts, by both Governments and interested organizations, for the promotion of tourism, in particular to developing countries, the United Nations decided the following :-
  1. Designates 1967 as International Tourist Year;
  2. Invites the States Members of the United Nations or members of the specialized agencies or of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and the international, inter-govemmental and non-governmental organizations concerned, to exert all possible efforts for the success of the International Tourist Year, with special em- phasis on promoting tourism to developing countries;
  3. Further invites those States and organizations to take into account, as appropriate, in their plans and programmes for the International Tourist Year, the proposals contained in the above-mentioned report of the International Union of Official Travel Organizations;
  4. Requests the Secretary-General to provide, within the limits of existing resources and available funds, the necessary assistance for the successful organization of the International Tourist Year, including the wide-spread dissemination of information on its objectives;
  5. Further requests the Secretary-General to prepare, in co-operation with the International Union of Official Travel Organizations, and to submit to the Economic and Social Council, if possible in 1968, a report embodying:
    1. A description of the programmes and activities undertaken by Governments and interested organizations during the International Tourist Year, with specific mention of exceptional temporary measures taken by individual Governments;
    2. An assessment of the results achieved in realizing the aims and objectives set for the International Tourist Year, particularly in encouraging tourism to developing countries.
In view of the above Cyprus issued a first Day Cover and four stamps, commemorating this important event on 16.10.1967. The stamps featured, Ancient Monuments, the Famagusta Beach, Nicosia Airport, and finally the Youth Hostel at Troodos. This nice card was given to me by Merja.