The 35th Anniversary of the First Space Shuttle Launch, Spain

You probably know that one of the topics I lose my mind for, is space and here comes a whole sheet of this year's Correos commemorative issue for the 35th Anniversary of the launching of Columbia.

On 12 April 1981 the first space shuttle, Columbia, was launched. It orbited the Earth 36 times and returned home two days later. There were two crew members, the astronauts John W. Young as ship commander and Robert L. Crippen as pilot.

This launch marked various milestones in the history of space exploration. Apart from being the first shuttle launch, it was the first flight of its kind to be launched without any prior test flights.

The mission's main objectives were to check that the shuttle was working properly, to climb to the orbital altitude with no problems, to return to Earth and land without having any setbacks. All of these objectives were successfully achieved.

But Columbia's story ended in tragedy on 1 February 2003. After 15 days in orbit, the shuttle was coming back to Earth. During take off, it had been hit by a heavy object that caused serious damage, although this was not apparent at the time. When the ship was re-entering the Earth's atmosphere, the port wing broke off, causing the ship to lose control and break up in the air. The ship's seven crew members lost their lives and all future space missions were immediately cancelled in order to investigate the causes of the accident.

The stamp issued to commemorate the 35th anniversary of its maiden flight is in the shape of the shuttle. It shows the ship against the background of the Earth seen from space, together with the moon. The text reads "35th anniversary of Columbia, the first space shuttle's launch" alongside the NASA logo. It has the appearance of a space orbit and can be read both horizontally and vertically.

Thanks to Herbert for this gift!

Butterflies, Spain

My initial thought of 'i have so many butterflies' stamps' in the end proved terribly wrong but luckily I did find a few things for today's edition of Sunday's Post and eventually the choice fell on this Spanish FDC issued on 1st of April 2010.

I love butterflies! They are just so delicate and beautiful and sometimes with such vibrant and amazing colours....and it when I was a child it was such a challenge to be able to catch one for a few seconds and let it crawl over your hands while you admire its beauty

On this Spanish FDC you can see two different kinds of butterflies, namely the Euphydryas aurinia /The marsh fritillary which is widespread in the Palaearctic region from Ireland in the West to Yakutia in the East, and to North-west China and Mongolia in the South.(the top one on the big image on the FDC and the one on the right stamp), and the Zerynthia rumina / the Spanish Festoon which is a widespread species in Spain and frequents most habitats. (the one at the bottom on the big image and the one on the left stamp).

Btw, I love the Spanish word 'mariposa' compared to the German one for example, 'Schmetterling' - there is just nothing gentle about it :D.

Wanna see more beauties like this? Well just check out today's episode 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!