A Few Smiley Postcards

This is a 3-D postcard featuring the words Love and Peace.  

When you see the word Love, it shows the Smiley face, with the word Peace you see a peace sign.

postmarked in 2013 with a USA Love stamp

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Smiles postmarked in 2010 from Australia

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Year 2000 - Have a nice Millennium! 

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Minnesota Happy Face

postmarked in 1991

Xinjiang Region of China at Sunset

 The sender said this is the province Xinjiang.

postmarked in 2013 with a pre-paid matching stamp and one more stamp

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Xinjiang is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in the northwest of the country. It is the largest Chinese administrative division and spans over 1.6 million km2. Xinjiang borders Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. It has abundant oil reserves and is China's largest natural gas-producing region.

With a documented history of at least 2,500 years, a succession of peoples and empires has vied for control over all or parts of this territory. Before the 21st century, all or part of the region has been ruled, controlled, influenced by the Tocharians, Yuezhi, Xiongnu Empire, Kushan Empire, Han Empire, Former Liang, Former Qin, Later Liang, Western Liáng, Tang Dynasty, Uyghur Khaganate, Kara-Khanid Khanate, Mongol Empire (Yuan Dynasty), Dzungar Khanate, Qing Dynasty, the Republic of China and, since 1950, the People's Republic of China.

Forget the Cracker .. Polly Wants a Postcard

Forget the Cracker ....
Polly wants a Postcard!

Red Lored Amazon Parrot

bought on this blog (on the right hand side of this post in the zazzle store)

unused, from 2013

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Red-lored Amazons are fairly common pet parrots in the Americas. They can be devoted pets and some make fairly good talkers. Like most Amazon parrots they often have a tendency to vocalize loudly, and sometimes to bite. Their behavior ranges from being quiet and curious to being aggressive, this can all be changed by basic training when the bird is of young age.

Avocado and eggplant are poisonous to them.

to purchase this card visit my store...
http://www.zazzle.com/forget_the_cracker_polly_wants_a_postcard_parrot-239180317201707376

Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: Rush Hour on Le Van Si Street

Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City
Rush hour on Le Van Si Street

Photo by Doan Duc Minh

unused, from 2013

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Ho Chi Minh City, formerly named Saigon, is the largest city in Vietnam.

The main means of transport within the city are motorbikes, buses, taxis, and bicycles. Motorbikes remain the most common way to move around the city. Taxis are plentiful and usually have trip meters, although it is also common to agree on the trip price before taking a long trip. Public buses run on many routes and fare can be purchased on the bus. For short trips, motorcycle taxis are available where the passenger sits at the rear of a motorbike. A popular activity for tourists is a tour of the city on cyclos (a rickshaw on back with a bicycle in front), which allow for longer trips at a more relaxed pace.

Whale Sharks

The mighty Whale Shark, the largest fish in the ocean, frequents the waters of Southern Belize

2009 Photography by Joel Parkey

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The whale shark, Rhincodon typus, is a slow-moving filter feeding shark and the largest fish species still found alive today. The largest confirmed individual had a length of 12.65 meters (41.50 ft) and a weight of more than 21.5 metric tons (47,000 lb), and there are unconfirmed reports of considerably larger whale sharks. Claims of individuals over 14 meters (46 ft) long and weighing at least 30 metric tons (66,000 lb) are not uncommon. 

The whale shark is found in tropical and warm oceans and lives in the open sea with a lifespan of about 70 years. Although whale sharks have very large mouths, as filter feeders they feed mainly, though not exclusively, on plankton, which are microscopic plants and animals. However, the BBC program Planet Earth filmed a whale shark feeding on a school of small fish. The same documentary showed footage of a whale shark timing its arrival to coincide with the mass spawning of fish shoals and feeding on the resultant clouds of eggs and sperm.

The species was distinguished in April 1828 after the harpooning of a 4.6 metres (15.1 ft) specimen in Table Bay, South Africa. Andrew Smith, a military doctor associated with British troops stationed in Cape Town, described it the following year. The name "whale shark" comes from the fish's physiology, being as large as some species of whales and also a filter feeder like many whale species.

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Here is one more postcard ... 

Pacific Ocean: Legazpi, Philippines.
A gentle giant, the biggest fish in the ocean is the whale shark.

Photo: Gavin Newman/Greenpeace - Planet Ocean

This unused card is from 2011.

Guia Lighthouse in Macau

Guia Lighthouse, Macau

Built in 1864 which is high above atop the Guia hill.  It is the first modern lighthouse on the Chinese coast.  The geographical coordinates of the Lighthouse also marks Macau's geographical location in the World's atlas.

postmarked in 2013 with three stamps from Macau, China

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Macau is one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the other being Hong Kong. Macau lies on the western side of the Pearl River Delta across from Hong Kong to the east.

The territory's economy is heavily dependent on gambling and tourism, but also includes manufacturing.

Macau, China stamp 2008

20 Concurso Internacional e Fogo de Artificio de Macau - 1.50 ptcs.

(20th International Macau Competition and fireworks)

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Macau, China - Stamp 2009

10 Aniversario do Retorno de Macau a Patria - 1.50

(10th Anniversary of Macao's Return to the Motherland)

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Macau, China stamp 2003,  

I Ching Pa Kua Series III, 2 ptcs.

Nearer My God To Thee! Titanic Sheet Music Postcard

Nearer My God to Thee!

Hymn played by Bandsmen of the S.S. "Titanic" as she sank to her doom, 15th April, 1912

This unused postcard was made in Great Britain for the National Series.

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"Nearer, My God, to Thee" is a 19th century Christian hymn by Sarah Flower Adams, based loosely on Genesis 28:11–19, the story of Jacob's dream. Genesis 28:11–12 can be translated as follows: "So he came to a certain place and stayed there all night, because the sun had set. And he took one of the stones of that place and put it at his head, and he lay down in that place to sleep. Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth, and its top reached to heaven; and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it..."

Lyrics:
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be nearer, my God, to Thee,

Chorus: Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I'd be nearer, my God, to Thee,

Chorus

There let the way appear steps unto heav'n;
All that Thou sendest me in mercy giv'n;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee,

Chorus

Then with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee
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Here is a Titanic Memorial postcard featuring the first verse:

Nearer, my God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee;
E'en though it be a cross
That raiseth me;
Still all my song shall be,
"Nearer, My God, to Thee,
Nearer to Thee".

Titanic Memorial Postcard from:
Holmfirth
Bamforth and Co.

This postcard is unused.

Trinidad and Tobago - The Hollows in Queens Park Savannah, Port of Spain

Trinidad and Tobago

"The Hollows"
Queens Park Savannah, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

Postmarked in 2013 with a Junior Carnival Queen on Broadway stamp for $3.75 (Carnival is "We Ting")

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Queen's Park Savannah is a park in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. Known colloquially simply as "the Savannah," it is Port of Spain's largest open space. It occupies about 260 acres (1.1 km2) of level land. Once sugar land, it was bought by the town council in 1817 from the Peschier family (except for a small parcel near its centre that served as the Peschier cemetery, which remains in private hands).

At first it was used as a vast cattle pasture in what was then the town's suburbs, but by the middle of the 19th century it had become established as a park. Until the early 1990s, horse racing was held frequently at the Savannah race track, and it also contains several cricket, football and rugby pitches. Apart from a ring of trees round its perimeter, the Savannah was never really landscaped, except for the small area in its northwest corner called the Hollows (see postcard above), a former reservoir now drained and planted with flowering shrubs.

Bane and Batman, Autographed by Artist Tony Santiago

Bane - the villain in Batman

Autographed by the Artist Tony Santiago

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Bane is a fictional character, a supervillain who appears in comic books published by DC Comics. The character's origin was in Batman: Vengeance of Bane #1 (January 1993), and was created by Chuck Dixon, Doug Moench, and Graham Nolan. Bane has been one of Batman's more physically and intellectually powerful foes. He is often credited for being the only villain to have "Broken The Bat".  

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Batman 

Batman

Autographed by the Artist Tony Santiago

I bought these at MegaCon 2013 in Orlando, Florida where he autographed them for me.  They were both blank white on the back, so I added some stamps (Batman: two cars that look like Bruce Wayne might drive - - and for Bane: one about fear and one featuring a robber) and mailed them to my PO Box to make postcards out of them.

to see more of Tony Santiago's work visit .. (and visit his store)...
http://www.tsillustration.com/TSillustration/Home.html

and do not forget to become a fan on facebook! ...
http://www.facebook.com/tsillustration

Postcrossing and Postcard Dictionary Page

Postcard and Postcrossing Definitions written like a dictionary page

This card was bought on the right hand side of this blog in 2013.

I have been a member of Postcrossing since 2006 and have sent and received thousands of postcards via this site.  If you go into the forum, (like I do) there are all kinds of specific tags too.  So if you collect just car postcards, or trains, bridges, food, etc.  you will find others to swap with.  I have collected postcards since I was in 5th grade (and I'm pushing 50 now) and Postcrossing has greatly improved my collection.  If you want to see the world without leaving your house, Postcrossing is the best way to do it!!

I bought this postcard on Zazzle here....
http://www.zazzle.com/definition_of_postcrossing_postcard_dictionary-239952633768057764

Ratatouille - Disney / Pixar

 Ratatouille

Film Frame: 2007

This was postmarked in 2012.

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Ratatouille is a 2007 American computer-animated comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the eighth film produced by Pixar. The title refers to a French dish (ratatouille) which is served in the film, and is also a play on words about the species of the main character. The film stars the voices of Patton Oswalt as Remy, an anthropomorphic rat who is interested in cooking and Lou Romano as Linguini, a young garbage boy who befriends Remy.


Recipe for Disney's Ratatouille (from the website Allrecipes.com)
 
"The beautiful ratatouille served up in the movie by the same name. Long and narrow vegetables work best. Serve over a bed of brown rice, couscous, pasta or other starch, or with crusty bread."

Original recipe makes 4 servings Servings

Ingredients:
 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
 1/2 onion, chopped
 1/4 cup minced garlic
 1 tablespoon olive oil
 3/4 cup water
 salt and ground black pepper to taste
 1 small eggplant, trimmed and very thinly sliced
 1 zucchini, trimmed and very thinly sliced
 1 yellow squash, trimmed and very thinly sliced
 1 red bell pepper, cored and very thinly sliced
 1 yellow bell pepper, cored and very thinly sliced
 3 tablespoons olive oil, or to taste
 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, or to taste
 3 tablespoons mascarpone cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Spread tomato paste into the bottom of a 10x10-inch baking dish. Sprinkle with onion and garlic and stir in 1 tablespoon olive oil and water until thoroughly combined. Season with salt and black pepper.
Arrange alternating slices of eggplant, zucchini, yellow squash, red bell pepper, and yellow bell pepper, starting at the outer edge of the dish and working concentrically towards the center. Overlap the slices a little to display the colors. Drizzle the vegetables with 3 tablespoons olive oil and season with salt and black pepper. Sprinkle with thyme leaves. Cover vegetables with a piece of parchment paper cut to fit inside.
Bake in the preheated oven until vegetables are roasted and tender, about 45 minutes. Serve with dollops of mascarpone cheese.

Aborigine People of Taiwan

The sender writes that these are Aborigine in front of a cherry blossoms tree

This is postmarked in 2009 with two 'warrior dolls' stamps.

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Taiwanese aborigines (literally " original inhabitants") is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan estimated to constitute about 2% of the population of the island.

The indigenous peoples of Taiwan face economic and social barriers, including a high unemployment rate and substandard education. Many aboriginal groups have been actively seeking a higher degree of political self-determination and economic development since the early 1980s. A revival of ethnic pride is expressed in many ways by aborigines, including incorporating elements of their culture into commercially successful pop music. Efforts are under way in indigenous communities to revive traditional cultural practices and preserve their traditional languages. Several aboriginal tribes are becoming extensively involved in the tourism and ecotourism industries to achieve increased economic self-reliance from the state. The Austronesian Cultural Festival in Taitung City is another means to promote aboriginal culture.

Samsung Electronics Roadshow in Switzerland

Samsung Electronics, Roadshow Schweiz
(outside the Stadelhofen (Zurich Railway Station))

Konzept/Realisation eines moblien Showrooms
(Concept / realization of a mobile showroom)

postmarked in 2013 with a Switzerland stamp

Switzerland (Helvetia) stamp 2009 

Bird, Milvus milvus (Red Kite) 190