The 75th Anniversary of Batman, USA

Nice chilly Sunday over here, which is kind of the perfect weather... not too cold, not too hot... just ideal. And it is time for our second letter of the alphabet, that has nothing to do with weather, but with one of the most cult... cultest (??) superheros of all times...
 Na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na na... BATMAN!

Well frankly I've never really watched the Batman movies, but when I was a kid I was impatiently waiting for every new episode of this Batman and Robin series from 1966. It was just so funny and entertaining!  (it was shown decades later here, I was far from born in 1966 btw :))

The character (whose secret name is Bruce Wayne) was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and first appeared in Detective Comics #27, in 1939.




So on October 9, 2014, the USPS issued stamps commemorating the 75th Anniversary of the superhero.

Four versions of the iconic DC Comics super hero are depicted from four eras of comic book history. In addition, there are four circular stamps showcasing the evolution of the Bat-Signal.
At first I actually thought the circular ones were like stickers, but then I realized they were actual stamps... super cool, eh?

Love the color of the envelope here... fits in perfectly with the stamps! Thanks to Bryon! :)

Enjoy your Sunday and check out the rest of the Bees :)

Animal Cubs, Hungary

For the previous Y, I went with stamps from Yugoslavia and that one is more or less like a very safe bet for me, having an abundant amount of stamps from there.
And in order not to be repetitive and kinda predictable, I won't be exploiting the easiest solution, but will show this very cute FDC instead.

Issued by Magyar Posta on 4th March 2014, this FDC contains twelve animal cubs, residents of the Budapest Zoo and Botanical Garden - animal cubs, or for the purpose of this post, Young animals :)

The cutest thing is that all these young residents have come on the stamps with their own names, so here you have the chance to meet:
- Sempala the giraffe,
- Sid the two-toed sloth,
- Jakab the Barbary sheep,
- Moira the orang-utan,
- Bangita the blackbuck,
- Maszat the prairie dog,
- Mazsola the ground cuscus,
- Rozi the meerkat,
- Gizmó the ring-tailed lemur,
- Skipper the African penguin,
- Kiran the Asiatic lion and
-Willo the common wombat.


In the upper and lower margin of the stamps the gender, name, species name and date of birth of each of the cubs are indicated, and their original habitat is written and shown in the map in the rand part of the sheet.

I had the chance to visit the Budapest zoo years ago, and it is definitely one of the most beautiful zoos I've been to (though in general I cannot say I've been to many, but still).

Ok, these youngsters are not so young nowadays since 4 years had passed since the stamps have been issued, but they are still young for my Y contribution today :)

For more Ys, hop over to the Sunday Stamps blog and its latest edition.

Celebrity Chefs, USA

Good Day Sunday Stampers, and welcome to the J edition of our second A-Z round!

I know the title may be misleading, but this is indeed a J-related post since out of the 5 people featured here, 3 of them bear a name that starts with J so, here we go :)

On September 26th, the USPS issued 5 stamps honoring five chefs who are said to have revolutionized the nation’s understanding of food. By integrating international ingredients and recipes with American cooking techniques and influence, these chefs introduced new foods and flavors to the American culture.

The chefs featured here are:

Joyce Chen - (1917–1994) is one of America’s most well-known promoters of Chinese food. From her landmark restaurant in the Boston area to her cookbooks and trailblazing PBS television show, Chen invited newcomers to sample unfamiliar dishes in ways that firmly established Chinese cuisine in the United States.

James Beard - (1903–1985) laid the groundwork for the food revolution that has put America at the forefront of global gastronomy. He was a pioneer foodie, host of the first food program on the fledgling medium of television in 1946, the first to suspect that classic American culinary traditions might cohere into a national cuisine, and an early champion of local products and markets. Beard nurtured a generation of American chefs and cookbook authors who have changed the way we eat.

Julia Child - (1912–2004), demystified French cuisine for a U.S. audience. Through her extremely popular television shows and cookbooks, Child showed us that we could make even complicated dishes in our very own kitchens, doing so with a joie de vivre that made her the public face of American cooking for more than 40 years.

Edna Lewis - (1916–2006) - Known as “the Grande Dame of Southern Cooking,” Edna found wisdom in the customs and patterns of her rural Virginia childhood. By bringing such quintessential dishes as shrimp and grits or roast chicken to the plates of fine restaurants, Lewis convinced her fellow Americans to take a second look at Southern cooking while also serving as one of the first voices to reemphasize the importance of fresh, seasonal ingredients.

Felipe Rojas-Lombardi - (1946–1991) Renowned for his creativity and culinary adventurousness,, Felipe is widely credited with introducing the Spanish small-plate tapas concept to American restaurants while raising the profile of Caribbean and South American cuisine.

*** information taken from the USPS website.

As a foodie, I have to say I find these stamps really interesting since I especially like trying out interesting and unusual foods (as long as it is not something alive or is meat, with some exceptions). I especially have a soft spot for desserts (my FB friends know what I am talking about :D)

Can't say I have a favourite cuisine, but for sure I love Chinese, Italian, Turkish and Mexican stuff.

How about you? Any favourite cuisine or food? :)

For more J-stamps, visit today's edition of Sunday Stamps :)

The 100th Anniversary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, Australian Antarctic Territory

Hello to all the Sunday Stampers out there, to all interested in stamps, to all interested in science and well, to just anyone who has ended up here for one reason or another :).

For today we are talking about science on Sunday Stamps and here comes my contribution to it - 3 FDCs from the Australian Antarctic Territory commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition (they are indeed issued by the Australian Post but for that AAT branch).

This was an Australasian scientific team that explored part of Antarctica between 1911 and 1914. It was led by the Australian geologist Douglas Mawson (the guy on the stamp at the very right on the above FDC), who was knighted for his achievements in leading the expedition.
In 1910 he began to plan an expedition to chart the 3,200 km-long coastline of Antarctica to the south of Australia. The Australasian Association for the Advancement of Science approved of his plans and contributed substantial funds for the expedition.
Accomplishments were made in geology, glaciology and terrestrial biology, unlike both of Ernest Shackleton's following expeditions which produced very little science. In a celebration of the achievements of Mawson and his men, a centenary scientific voyage, retracing the route of the original expedition, departed from Australasia in late 2013 and became stuck on 24 December 2013.
The team selected for the expedition came primarily from universities in Australia and New Zealand (there were also three British and one Swiss).

A fun fact: In order to maintain morale over the prolonged period of isolation Archibald McLean (Australian bacteriologist known for his role as chief doctor during this expedition) hit upon the idea of publishing their own newspaper to keep the confined men entertained. Expedition members contributed poetry, short fiction, and literary criticism as well as scientific articles and accounts of their daily activities. The result was the Adelie Blizzard which had five issues between April and October in 1913. They were never officially published for the general public until almost 100 years had passed when a facsimile edition was produced.

With regards to these issues, the first and the third FDC were issued on 18 February 2014, while the middle one was issued on 10 September 2013 - why is this I really have no idea. They've all been designed by Andrew Hogg though.

For more science from around the world, check out today's edition of Sunday Stamps!

Ferns, USA

Today's Sunday Stamps theme is 'green'...and I honestly couldn't get any greener than this...

The USPS issued this set of fern stamps on March 6, 2014.
Ferns are considered a favourite with gardeners and florists and range from tiny moss-like plants to giants as tall as trees. The ferns featured on the stamps are five of the approximately 380 different species found in North America. Here we have five of them, starting from left to right - Painted fern, Goldie's wood Fern, Autumn fern, Soft shield fern, Fortune's holly fern.
I love the nice clear postmarks on this one...thanks a bunch to Bryon for sending this to me :)

And for more of this eyes-soothing colour, check today's edition of Sunday Stamps.

Graphic Humour, Spain

Just recently I selfishly acquired this from a friend...well, he didnt object in me taking it, but I keep thinking that maybe I was just a bit too greedy....but then again, if I left it with him he would have just used it for postage most probably so I just want to think that I kinda saved it :D

If you take a good look you will actually see that the issue is presented as a souvenir sheet that is made up of one stamp, plus 11 cartoons in a comic strip format with no postage value (kinda weird on the other hand, to create a stamp sheet like this and then kinda make it useless...cos if you just use the stamp and leave the rest it kinda ends up being destroyed and looks terrible....so I guess this was meant for collectors only...I mean, the face value of the stamp is not really something you could use on every day mail now, is it?). It features a dedication penned by the graphic humorist: “For the entire philatelic work force, with affection (2014).”

Antonio Fraguas de Pablo, known as Forges, was born in Madrid in 1942. Beginning as a technician at the national television station TVE when he was very young, in 1973 he decided to devote himself professionally to graphic humour. During this initial period, he published his first drawings in the daily newspaper Pueblo (in 1964) and in Informaciones, and began to collaborate with the humour magazines Hermano Lobo, Por Favor and El Jueves. In 1982 he began working at the newspaper Diario 16 drawing editorial jokes. Years later, he began appearing in El Mundo, the paper that he helped to found. In 1995 he started publishing a daily comic strip in El País that he still signs today. Exhibiting a sense of humour that is caustic, realistic and loaded with current references, Forges depicts a critical vision of current events in his drawings, with thought-provoking characters and situations from everyday life. He uses popular language, with invented words, such as strozá, gensanta, bocata and esborcio, that simulate vocabulary picked up directly from the streets. Among his most well-known characters, which undoubtedly reflect the ad hoc nature of society, are: Mariano and his wife Concha, the island castaways that combat loneliness with imagination, Los Blasillos (the Blasillo family) in rural Spain, the deranged football fans and the enfuriated office worker. Phrases such as “Don’t forget...” repeated day after day for different reasons, emphasise events that occupy the front pages of the news.

it was issued on October 9, 2014

anyways, the theme for today's Sunday Stamps is illustrations, and this kinda (at least according to me), fit into the definition...so I thought it would be nice to share it with you, cos personally, I really love this one!
Now, it is in Spanish, so I hope you can get the idea about what it is all about...now with my limited knowledge of Spanish, I would refrain from translating these...plus, translating humour is like destined to result in a failure...

for more illustrations of this and other kinds, make sure to visit today's Sunday Stamps! 

European Capitals on Stamps!

Good morning all! It is a nice Sunday morning and it is time for Sunday Stamps!
I feel like Im gonna have a lazy day in general, and spend it mainly on cards, stamps and blogging on the same topics...yeah, I've been allowing myself a lot of lazy days lately, but come on, it's summer, so why not :P

Theme of today...faraway (exotic, romantic) places....hmmm, at first I thought this should only be about some places far far away, and I had the association of  'rare' countries in my head as well, don't know why....but then I saw Viridian's post, and I realized I could probably show these beauties, and I've been wanting to for a long while. After all, a faraway place is a rather relative thing, depending where on Earth you actually are...and same goes for romantic/exotic...it is an individual perception (and you'll see a clear example of this somewhere below).

So ladies and gentleman, fasten your seat-belts, and get ready for a short European tour through these awesome sheets of stamps issued by the French postal service! Each year, they portray a European capital. So far they've covered around ten I think...I do not have all the issues yet, but I hope to acquire them over time :)

And first comes Budapest, Hungary's capital, issued in 2011!

Beautiful city, that I had the chance to visit back in 2001, but I'd like to visit it again one day since I don't think I was able to absorb enough of it back then, neither enjoy the small cosy moments of just sitting at a cafe and doing nothing but relaxing and observing people.
On the sheet you can see the Parliament (which I believe is like on almost every Budapest postcard), the Great Synagogue, the famous Chain Bridge (one of the many bridges over the Danube), the Royal Palace (which I actually do not remember seeing), the Széchenyi thermal bath (haven't seen it either), the Matthias Church, the Heroes' Square, and that round thing in the middle that at first glance looked like a coin to me, actually represents St. Stephen's Basilica (or as it is in French, Basilique Saint-Étienne).





In 2010, it was Paris. And here comes the clash of romantic vs non-romantic for me. Yeah, I know Paris is considered as one of the most romantic and beautiful cities and all...but how do I put this...Paris has been one of the greatest disappointments in my life, and to me it is just way too overrated! Sorry guys, nothing personal and no offence, but Paris doesn't give me thrills no chills...and that's why at the beginning I said that 'a romantic place' is also a rather relative and subjective thing :)

However, out of all the stamps issued for the European Capital series, I do believe the one portraying Paris is the most beautiful one. Well, ok, it is issued by the French postal service after all, maybe they were biased :P
My favourite part of the sheet is the cafe atmosphere shown at the very left, plus I love the detail of part of the building being shown.
Other than that, you have the Triumphal Arc (we have one here as well I must say), Notre-Damme, the Eiffel Tower (how does it feel to climb on the Eiffel and all you see below is fog fog fog? terrible! =/), the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur, Palais Garnier (a famous Opera House in Paris), a Champs-Élysées street plate...and at the very top, something that is called "Under the roofs of Paris".

If out of nowhere someone French stops talking to me/unfriends me or so, I'll blame it on this post :)





The latest issue from the series (issued this year, that is) is the beautiful beautiful Vienna! ❤

Visited it the same year as Paris, but was left with two very different impressions (so I dont know, maybe someone could tell me here something about my personality, something I am unconscious of, based on the places I like and dislike :))

Vienna is portrayed with the Secession Building (or also known as the Secession Pavilion), the Belvedere Palace, the Karlskirche, and the Hofburg Palace.
What I can't possibly understand here is how come they excluded the Schönbrunn Palace...

Well, Vienna is a place I fell in love with at first sight...a place where I felt at home, due to its lovely atmosphere and the overall high percentage of Serbian/Croatian languages I could hear spoken in the streets...for someone having grown up in Yugoslavia, yeah, that makes you feel like home...and it was simply my all time favourite place that I've been to...that is, until I visited Prague last year...




and yes, here comes Prague, issued in 2008! ❤❤❤

Another city that is probably spoken about and praised too much..but here, things clicked from the starters...I'll never forget the early morning when the bus arrived to Prague...and I just looked outside the window...and was in love! It is one of those places that captivated me IMMEDIATELY! I didn't even have to walk around...the very first view from the bus was just enough...spending a few days there just cemented our relationship...and it was then when Prague took over the pedestal from Vienna and has been there ever since...I wonder if there will be a place that will dethrone Prague..and I really wonder which place that's gonna be :)

Starting with the Charles's Bridge..then the Powder Tower, St. Nicholas's church in the Lesser Town, the famous Astronomical Clock, which is beautiful, but to me the performance is just plain boring and not worth the fuss (same goes with the one in Münich)...then you can see here the Church of Our Lady before Týn, the Castle, the nice and charming Golden Street....and a candelabra at the Hradčany, or the Castle District.
Ahhh, Prague......




Next comes the capital featured on the 2013 stamps...and another place due to which people may mysteriously stop talking to me...Madrid.

Well ok, I like it more than Paris..but however, this is another place I have not been impressed with...and couldn't find that bond...the city is nice and all and there are some great places to see, but personally just wasn't my type...I don't know if the fact we didn't bond was also due to the fact that during the time I was there, there were protests and I didn't really feel at ease...but however, I left Madrid rather disappointed...probably the best thing about it were the churros! Oh boy, those churros....a heavenly delight! I tried churros in Mexico too, but they didn't even come close to the ones in Madrid. I didn't try churros anywhere else in Spain, and Madrid has the Chocolateria San Gines, recommended on all travelling websites about 'places to see and do in Madrid'..so I guess if I ever wanna go back to Madrid, it would be to indulge into those churros again...and oh yeah, go to Madird Atocha, since I didn't get to do that last time (that is the Railway Station in Madrid :))
A quick go-through the places shown: Plaza Mayor, the Almudena Cathedral, the Plaza de Cibeles and the Royal Palace...where we wasted two hours waiting in a row, on what was supposed to be a free entry in the afternoon, just to find out that the 'free' entry was not valid for countries outside the EU...or unless you are from a Latin-American country...yeah, just to add to the annoying Madrid experience :))
Btw, I believe those 'artistic' pictures come from the Prado Museum..





And last comes the only place out of these that I haven't had the chance to visit, but that I'd really love to one day...there is something just so inviting about Lisbon!

Since I cannot give my personal insight here, I'll just name the places shown (and I'm familiar with most of them thanks to the postcards I have :))

So you have the Jerónimos Monastery, the Santa Justa elevator, the National Tile Musuem, the Belém Tower, the Bairro Alto District, St. George's Castle and the Monument to the Discoveries (Padrão dos Descobrimentos).


Well, a bit of a longish post, though I tried not to get into details about each of the place shown on the stamps.

And I have to give a thank-you note here to Eric, thanks to whom I have these beauties in my collection!

If you wanna check out some more faraway/exotic/romantic places, click on the button below...and have a great Sunday!

Vintage Circus Posters, USA

Time for Sunday Stamps...ok, still Saturday here, but since the host's post is up already, and I just have been sort of on alert as well, why not use the time wisely...and get back to work later...it's not like 20-30 minutes are gonna change much either way..

Anyways, I was aware that this issue will be posted by someone else, and Viridian did post 4 of these stamps...but having received this cover this week...and being such a beautiful one, I just couldnt resist and told myself that no matter what, I'll go with this one..this shouldn't go in vain..at least, the chances of someone posting the whole set ON a cover, shouldn't be that big...so we'll see :)

from the accompanying letter :)

"Ladies and gentleman, children of all ages, welcome to The Greatest Show On Earth!" The Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey ringmaster''s famous words welcomed crowds to the circus, an extraordinary place brimming with irresistible attractions.
Posters gave audiences a taste of what awaited under the big top - an astounding magical spectacle. Like the circuses they touted, the posters were big and bold. A "sheet" was 42x28 inches, and stunning imagery often sprawled across dozens of them at a time. Sometimes, massive arrays of posters covered entire sides of buildings.
These eye-popping early 20th century posters showcased majestic elephants, fierce tigets, and colorful clowns, alongside acts such as acrobatic gymnasts, graceful wire dancers and daring stuntman.

Whether in small towns or large cities, the circus brought together folks of all ages and walks of life, to share its magic and to let imaginations soar like aerialists above their daily routines and cares.
Joyful posters beckoned the masses toward the grand show, thus proving P.T. Barnum right: "The noblest art is that of making others happy"


Speaking of circuses...when I was a child, I was overjoyed when one would come in town...eventually it was not so fun...esp. after realizing what may be happening to those animals behind the scenes...however, I would probably still enjoy a cool acrobats' show.

for more circus fun, click this big button...and have a great Sunday!

And a HUGE HUGE HUGE thank you to Bryon for being a partner in crime in my Sunday Stamps adventures :P