Milling of Kuwaiti Mash

Milling of kuwaiti mash

postmarked in 2010 with a Kuwait stamp

I love the traditional cloths they are wearing!  So beautiful.

Legend of Torghatten, in Norway

Torghatten, Bronnoysund, Norway

The sender writes that the black spot you see on the mountain is a hole, and that he walked through it. (see below)

Postmarked in 2009 with two Norway stamps

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Torghatten is a mountain on Torget island in Brønnøy municipality in Norway. It is known for its characteristic hole, or natural tunnel, through its center.

According to legend, the hole was made by the troll Hestmannen while he was chasing the beautiful girl Lekamøya. As the troll realised he would not get the girl, he released an arrow to kill her, but the troll-king of Sømna threw his hat into the arrow's path to save her. The hat turned into the mountain with a hole in the middle.

It is possible to walk up to the tunnel on a well-prepared path, and through it on a natural path.

On 6 May 1988, Widerøe Flight 710 from Namsos to Brønnøysund crashed into the side of the mountain, and all the 36 passengers and crew died.

Stoplight Parrotfish (Sparisoma viride)

 Stoplight Parrotfish (Sparisoma viride) - Fused teeth, resembling beaks, and brilliant colors give the parrotfish its name.  The beaks are used to scrape algae and coral polyps from the coral heads, and in so doing they ingest limestone from the reef and excrete the residue as sand.


Photo by Stephen Frink

Stoplight parrotfish (Sparisome viride) - With their bright colors and a beak shaped like that of a parrot's, "parrotfish" is the obvious name for this common Keys' reef dweller.

Photo by Stephen Frink

unused, from 2010

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The Stoplight parrotfish is a sex-changing fish inhabiting coral reefs in Florida, Bahamas, the Caribbean, eastern Gulf of Mexico, Bermuda, and Brazil. Its typical length is between 30 and 45 cm, but it can reach 60 cm at times.

The colors of the Stoplight parrotfish in the initial phase, (first postcard), when it could be either a male or a female, are dramatically different from those in the terminal phase, (second postcard), when it's definitely a male.

Their pharyngeal teeth grind up coral rock that the fish ingests during feeding. After they digest they excrete the rock as sand helping to create small islands and the sandy beaches of the Caribbean. One parrotfish can produce 90 kg of sand each year.

Montevideo, Uruguay

Montevideo, Capital de la
Republica Oriental del Uruguay
(Montevideo, Capital of Uruguay)

Plaza Independencia (Independence Square)
Estadio Centenario (Centenario Stadium)
Playa Pocitos (Pocitos Beach Wsaterfront)
Palacio Legislativo (The Parliament)

postmarked in 2010 with two stamps from Uruguay

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Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. It was established in 1726 as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the Viceroyalty of the Rio de la Plata.

Montevideo has a population of 1,338,408 and a larger urban area of 1,968,324 (2009).

It is the southernmost capital city in the Americas and third most southerly in the world, and is situated in the southern coast of the country, on the northern bank of the Rio de la Plata (also River Plate).

Bridgetown, Barbados

Vessels wait their turn on a busy day at the Careenage, Bridgetown, Barbados, W.I. (West Indies)

This is postmarked with Barbados 45c 'flower' stamp in 1978.

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The city of Bridgetown, metropolitan pop 96,578 (2006), is the capital and largest city of the nation of Barbados.

The present day location of the city was established by the British in 1628 following their settlement at James Town. Bridgetown is a major West Indies tourist destination, and the city acts as an important financial, and convention center in the Caribbean region.

Bridgetown also has a small canal in the centre of the city, named the Careenage, a.k.a. "Constitution River". The Careenage is just large enough for pleasure craft or fishing boats and has two main bridges near the city center which span the shallow Careenage.

The Little Rascals - Our Gang

Our Gang

unused, bought in 2010

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George McFarland (Spanky)
William Thomas (Buckwheat)
Gordon Lee (Porky)
Carl Switzer (Alfalfa)
Darla Hood (Darla)


Our Gang, also known as The Little Rascals or Hal Roach's Rascals, was a series of American comedy short films about a group of poor neighborhood children and the adventures they had together.

A total of 220 shorts and one feature film, General Spanky, were produced, featuring over forty-one child actors. In the mid-1950s, the 80 shorts with sound (they started out as silent shorts) were syndicated for television under the title The Little Rascals.

The series is noted for showing children behaving in a relatively natural way. Our Gang also notably put boys, girls, whites and blacks together in a group as equals, something that "broke new ground," according to film historian Leonard Maltin. Such a thing had never been done before in cinema but was commonplace after the success of Our Gang.

Bolivar Plaza in San Felipe, Panama

Panama

Plaza Bolivar

the sender writes:

This is the "Casco Viejo" founded in 1673 in San Felipe, Panama.

A Unesco World Heritage Sight.  

Greetings from Panama, "Crossroads of the World"

This is postmarked in 2010 with three great Panama stamps.

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San Felipe is a small district in Panama City and is often referred to as Casco Antiguo or Casco Viejo.  It is rich in history and is now regarded as a national treasure.  It was originally built around 1673 by the Spanish garrison, the Catholic Church and the settlers.  

Panama Stamp 2002

B/O 0.05

Tesoras Artisticos del Teatro Nacional

(National Theatre artistic treasure)

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Panama Stamp 2001 

B/O 0.05

Palacio de las Garzas

(Herons' Palace - The official name of the presidential palace, named for the numerous herons that inhabit the building.)

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Panama Stamp 2001 

B/O 0.15

Independencia de Panama de Espana

(Panama Independence from Spain)

Norway - Geiranger (Town) Flydalsjuvet (Fjord)

 

Norge. (Norway) Geiranger, Flydalsjuvet.

Foto: Per Eide

postmarked in 2010 with three Norway stamps
(one is Fjernsynet 50 ar (50 Years of Television)

the sender writes:

I hope you like this card from one of our famous fjords.  I've been here myself, it's an amazing sight.

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Geiranger is a small tourist village in the western part of Norway. It is home to some of the most spectacular scenery in the world, and has been named the best travel destination in Scandinavia by Lonely Planet. Since 2005, the Geiranger fjord has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The third biggest cruise ship port receives 140 to 180 ships during the four-month tourist season. Several hundred thousand people pass through every summer.  Tourism is the main business for the 250 people who live there permanently. The tourist season stretches from May to early September; in the off-season the pace and activity are reduced to that of a normal small Norwegian town.

Each year in June, the Geiranger - From Fjord to Summit event occurs. It comprises a half marathon run and a bicycle race, both starting from the sea level at the fjord and ending at the 1,497 metres (4,911 ft) summit of Mount Dalsnibba, near the lake Djupvatnet. Since there is still a lot of snow left in the mountains at that time of year, the race could also be called "From Summer to Winter".

 

Villa Borghese, Gardens, in Rome, Italy

Roma  (Rome)

Villa Borghese - Little lake

postmarked in 1955 with an Italy stamp

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Villa Borghese is a large landscape garden in the naturalistic English manner in Rome, containing a number of buildings, museums and attractions. It is the second largest public park in Rome (80 hectares or 148 acres) after that of the Villa Doria Pamphili. 

The gardens were developed for the Villa Borghese Pinciana and built by the architect Flaminio Ponzio, who used it as a party villa, at the edge of Rome, and to house his art collection. The gardens as they are now were remade in the early nineteenth century.

University of Phoenix Stadium, Arizona Cardinals

University of Phoenix Stadium

Glendale, Arizona

The 63,500-seat home of the Arizona Cardinals has been named the University of Phoenix Stadium. This is the first time a National Football League venue has been named after an educational institution.

Photo Robert Silberblatt

unused, given to me in 2010

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The stadium features the first fully retractable natural grass playing surface built in the United States on top of an AirField Systems synthetic drainage system. An opening on one side of the stadium allows the playing field to move to the exterior of the building, allowing the entire natural turf playing surface to be exposed to daylight when it is not in use and also allowing the floor to be used for other purposes without damaging the playing surface.

The University of Phoenix, a for-profit university specializing in adult education, acquired the naming rights in September 2006, shortly after the stadium had opened under the name Cardinals Stadium. The "University of Phoenix" name is applied as a corporate sponsor, and not as the home stadium of the University (which has no intercollegiate athletics program).

Wall Art of the Berlin Wall

Eine Karte aus dem ADMOS - postkartenbuch "Mauerkunst"
Foto: Erhard Pansegrau

the sender translates:
A card from the ADMOS postcard book "Wall Art"
Photo: Erhard Pansegrau

Postmarked in 2010 with a Germany 100 flower stamp

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On November 9, 2009, Berlin celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Numerous events took place around the city including the restoration of the East Side Gallery - a 1.3km long section of the wall located along the bank of the Spree River. Initially created in 1989/1990, the wall is a memorial for freedom and is thought to be the largest open air gallery in the world, containing about 106 paintings by artists from all over the world.

Over the last 2 decades, time, weather, pollution, and vandals have taken their toll and the wall has been crumbling and the paint peeling and fading. Since early 2009, almost 90 artists have worked to repaint their original creations, restoring it to it’s former glory.

The artists “have conveyed a second time their genuine euphoria from 1990,” said Kani Alavi, who heads the East Side Gallery Artists’ Association and was a driving force behind the restoration. “Twenty years after the fall of the wall, the East Side Gallery stands for democracy and human rights”.

The wall is a popular tourist attraction and the Berlin City Government contributed more than 2 million euros to help fund the restoration.

(The above postcard is a picture on that wall)

The Wreck of the Chikuzen, British Virgin Islands

Wreck of the Chikuzen

British Virgin Islands

This 223 foot long, Korean refrigerator ship was built in 1960.  On August 11, 1981, word was received that a storm was coming.  Because of engine failure, the owners tried to scuttle the ship.  Even after being set on fire, the ship wouldn't sink.  Finally a tug boat towed her about seven miles north of Tortola, where she sank.  Huge schools of fish are her colorful local inhabitants.

Photos Jim Scheiner / Rainbow Visions

postmarked with a British Virgin Island, World Cup Champion 35 stamp

The Weather in Iceland

Three out of four sheep agree: in Iceland we have weather.

Storhofoi, Heimaey Island,
Vestmannaeyjar (Vestmann Islands),
off the south coast,
Icelandic sheep (Ovis aries)
Icelandic name: kindur

posmtarked in 2009 with an Island (Iceland) Christmas stamp

The sender writes:
I could not agree more with the saying on this card. The weather is like this. If you don't like the weather in Iceland, just wait 5 minutes!

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Vestmannaeyjar -

Small group of islands off the south coast of Iceland. The volcanic island of Surtsey emerged from the ocean in 1963, and in 1973 the volcano Helgafell erupted, causing the population of 5,200 to be temporarily evacuated and adding 2.5 sq km/1 sq mi to the islands' area. The eruption created the volcanic cone of Eldfell. Heimaey, the largest of the islands, is one of Iceland's chief fishing ports.



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Click on the 'Iceland' tag below to see a card of the 1973 Volcano!!