The 100th Anniversary of the Theory of Relativity, Macedonia

On this day, March 14th, 1879, the genius called Albert Einstein was born. Which means that today he would have been 137 years old...if my math is right..

He did a lot of scientific research and work throughout his career, but probably the most famous and maybe most important one is his General theory of relativity, something that Im sure all of you are familiar with...if not, well then please do not ask ME to give you some explanation about it, since, you know, I am a linguist, and things like this are like science fiction to me :) I may comprehend them to a certain extent more or less, but me explaining them...now that is just impossible )

Anyways, just wanted to commemorate Einstein's birthday with this FDC issued by the Macedonian Post on 30 June 2005, commemorating the 100th Anniversary of Einstein's Theory of Relativity, which was published in 1915.
Face value of the stamp is 60 denars, so of course, useless, since for comparison, mailing a postcard is 30 denars, mailing a letter up to 20 grams is 36 denars......

Ukrainian Folk Costumes, Ukraine

lets use this lazy Sunday for taking part in the Sunday stamps...and the theme being ethnic or national costumes. I have a few of these, but for today I decided to share with you these three Ukrainian FDCs, with according to me, AWESOME stamps!

These were issued on December 20, 2005 and each stamp has the face value of 70 kopiyoks.
The first FDC has two stamps representing the Land of Zhytomyr. (Zhytomyr is a city in the northwestern part of Ukraine, and considered as the main centre of the Polish minority in Ukraine).
The stamp on the left represents the Melanka and Vasyl Holiday (St. Basil's Day).
Melanka is a Ukrainian folk holiday celebrated on January 13th, which is New Year's Eve according to the Julian calendar. Carolers in costumes and masks go from house to house in the village - from morning till evening, play traditional scenes and sing schedrivky. There are several traditional roles: "old man and old woman", "Melanka and Vasyl", "gypsy", "jew", "gendarme", "drunkard", "doctor" and many "devils".

The stamp on the right represents St. Zosyma's Day. St. Zosyma was one of the founders of the Solovetsky monastery,on the Solovetsky Islands in the White Sea of northern Russia.

The second FDC has two stamps portraying the Land of Rivne (Rivne is a historic city in the western part of Ukraine).
The stamp on the left represents St Yuriy's Day, which is the Russian name for either of the two feasts of Saint George celebrated by the Russian Orthodox Church.
The Russian Orthodox Church celebrates the feast of St George on April 23 (Julian Calendar)and in addition to this, the Russian Church also celebrates the anniversary of the consecration of the Church of St George in Kiev by Yaroslav I the Wise (1051) on November 26 (Julian Calendar).
The stamp on the right represents St Peter's and St Paul's Day.

and on the third FDC, we have two stamps portraying the Volyn province in north-western Ukraine.
The stamp on the left represents The Annunciation, while the right one represents St. Nicholas' Day. That one is celebrated on December 19 in most Orthodox countries and my grandparents do commemorate it each year as a celebration inherited from my grandfather's parents, because his father (my great-grandfather's name was Nikola (the Macedonian version of Nicholas) :)

for more traditional clothings, patterns and such, go to Viridian's blog...and I promise to check all the other posts later, but right now I am just in a terrible need of a short nap =/

  

Bicentennial of the birth of Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875), Macedonia

Since today's theme at Viridan's is free to choose, I knew what mine would revolve around to...however, it was not that easy to decide what would be most suitable, since I have no actual stamps related to the event (I dont even know if any such stamps have been issued), so this in a way was closest to what I think would be appropriate...

and the actual event is that September 30 is the International Translation Day...and being a translator by vocation, I did want to commemorate it somehow today. So this FDC issued by the Macedonian postal service seemed to fit into the subject, since translations and books go together...and even though children's literature is really specific and does require loads of skills and knowledge to be conveyed the right way, Id really love to actually have the chance one day and work on the translation of Andersen's works. I enjoyed reading some of his stories when I was little (the Little Mermaid is actually by Andersen, and that Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen is actually there since Andersen was Danish).
Some other famous stories by him are for example The Princess and the Pea (boy, I LOVED reading this one over and over again when i was little...i was amused by her sensitivity to something as small as a pea grain), then the Ugly Duckling (yup, another one of my childhood's favourites, which taught me a lot I think)....or The Little Match-girl...probably one of the saddest of his stories...I am the kind of person who so much gets involved into the books she reads, I found this one really traumatic...I mean, a child is reading about another child dying on New Year's eve..do you know how shocking it feels to kids? Still, due to the fact Andersen's stories can really touch the reader's heart, is why i love and appreciate his work, and it would be a real challenge to be able to convey that effect into Macedonian. If someone thinks that translator's work is easy....trust me, it is EVERYTHING but easy...but it is very creative and you get to learn so many new things all the time, and that's why I love it...now, as for the pressure and the insane deadlines and low pays...well, thats a whole different story :)
And while we are already on the subject...for those who may not know...translation and interpreting are two different things...translation is the written production of text, while interpretation is the one which totally fries your brain out, whether it be consecutive or simultaneous (and esp if you need to interpret Italians, that's when you feel like killing someone..). I have nothing against Italians or anything...but boy, they talk sooo fast, that it is just so difficult to follow and keep the train of thought, catch notes and interpret it all afterwards without forgetting what you actually wanted to say...but well, I love that part of my job as well....just yesterday I had to do this pres-conference..with all the media...I was terrified to death (as I always am)...but the moment I put the headphones on and start talking, the fear disappears and I get totally absorbed by the thrill and beauty of interpreting and nothing else seems to matter anymore.....it just gives an enormous satisfaction when done right :)

ok, I blabbered more than usual about myself...but this is like, my day..and I just couldnt help it :)

btw, this FDC was issued to commemorate 200 years since Andersen's birth.

btw2...if anyone has any stamps/cards/anything related to translation/interpreting...PLEASE contact me! Thanks!!

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Dutch Trains, The Netherlands

In 2005, the Netherlands issued stamps on railways and Paul was very kind and sent me both the FDC and the set of mint stamps!

It is a set of four stamps showing typical Dutch trains, issued in a sheet of 10, on the occasion of the reopening of the Utrecht Railway Museum which was renovated.

The stamp in the top left corner shows the Blue Angel. It got its name from the famous movie "Der Blaue Engel" from 1929 featuring Marlène Dietrich. This train is now to be seen in the Utrecht railway museum. Its official name is DE 41 and it was introduced in 1953. It could contain 73 passengers.

Next to it, in the top right corner is the steam locomotive 3737. It ran services till 1957. One still survives and is operational. It sometimes carries out special rides.

In the bottom left corner is the Intercity Express train. It is a German ICE train which can reach speeds up to 330 kilometers per hour on special high speed track, not available in the Netherlands at the moment these stamps were issued.

Next to it, in the bottom right corner is the Front Runner (Koploper), which is in use since 1977. The train driver is high above the passenger compartment, which makes it possible to couple carriages without obstructing the way through to the next carriage. It was also the first train in which benches were not only placed opposite each other but behind each other as well

Technical Details:


Date of issue: 14.10.2005
Value of each stamp: 0,39 euros
Paper: non-phosphorescent with phosphorescent beam
Print: offset
Perforation: 14½
Watermark: none

Thank you so much again Paul!!!!