The Anthem Philatelist

Long jing Village, China- The Hometown of Tea

2012-01-02T02:49:00.000-08:00

Longjing aka Longhong or Longqiu sits on the Fenghuangling mountain on the southwest of West Lake. The ancient Chinese believed that the dragon lives here so name it after Longjing. The famous Longjing tea of West Lake is produced in this village. In Ming and Qing era, the Longjing tea became famous because scholars and emperors highly regarded the tea. Qianlong emperor visited Longjing and adjudged its taste as one of Chinas's best. Longjing is interlinked with the sea and the dragon lives in the sea so we call Longjing. Longjing's water is also very strange, for when stirring it. a line which separates the water appears on the surface like a swinging gossamer, then quickly disappears. Its spring water is clean and sweet. Longjing, Hupao and Yu spring are called the three famous springs of West lake.

The souvenir sheet above features the West Lake in Hangzhou issued by China in 1989.

New Zealand's Unofficial National Anthem on Stamps?

2011-12-24T09:44:00.000-08:00

New Zealand has honored Engelbert Humperdinck by releasing a stamp based on his song ‘Ten Guitars’. Engelbert released ‘Ten Guitars’ as a b-side in 1967. It was also on his debut album ‘Release Me’. However, despite originally be used as more filler than thriller the song took on a life of its own in New Zealand and is now considered the country's unofficial national anthem. There was even a Facebook petition to have it made the national anthem.‘Ten Guitars’ is said to be one of the most played songs at parties in New Zealand.The 60-cent ‘Ten Guitars’ stamp features in a set of Kiwiana stamps out now in New Zealand.

Engelbert Humperdinck (born Arnold George Dorsey; 2 May 1936) is a British pop singer, best known for his hits including "Release Me (And Let Me Love Again)" and "After the Lovin'" as well as "The Last Waltz" ("The Last Waltz with You").

The 20th Anniversary of the Restoration of State Independence of the Republic of Azerbaijan on Stamp and Souvenir Sheet

2011-12-22T08:02:00.000-08:00

Like other republics of the Soviet Union at the time, Azerbaijan had its own anthem, which was in use until shortly after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Azerbaijan was originally given an anthem in 1944, but a slight change to the lyrics came in 1978 with the removal of Stalin's name and other minor changes. The composer of the anthem's melody also wrote the music for the current Azerbaijani national anthem in 1919 before Azerbaijan became part of the Soviet Union.

On January 30, 1920, the Azerbaijan government announced a competition to create a national anthem, but in the result of the fall of Azerbaijan to the Soviet Union on April 28, 1920, the anthem was not adopted. On May 27, 1992, after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the "Azerbaijan Marsi," which was created in 1919 during the brief independence period, was approved as the State Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan. The composer of the anthem was Uzeyir Hajibeyov, the same person that composed the music to the anthem used by the Azerbaijan SSR.

Above is the stamp set of national symbols with the lyrics of the national anthem. Below is the souvenir sheet with the flag, map and score of the national anthem. These were issued on November 10, 2011.

Slovenian Anthem Lyrics on Stamps

2011-12-19T08:55:00.000-08:00

"Zdravljica" was written by France Prešeren, considered as Slovenia's national poet, as a drinking song (in his original manuscript, the layout of the words resemble a wine glass), but also was seen as politically charged piece when it was written in 1844 as it spoke of pan-Slavic nationalism, which was controversial in Austria-Hungary (which Slovenia was part of at the time). It was finally published in 1848, after revolutions in Austria-Hungary lifted the censorship.

In 1905, Zdravljica was set to music for the first time, the entire poem had a choral composition composed for it by Stanko Premrl, and this was the composition chosen as the Slovenian anthem in September 1989. Six months later, it was specified that the seventh verse is the official anthem, and this remains to this day.

The block above contains the flag and some of the lyrics of the Slovenian national anthem. It was issued on 2001.

Qin Shi Huang's Teracotta Army in Xian

2011-12-03T20:55:00.001-08:00

Some Chinese scholars labelled Emperor Qin Shi Huang as a tyrannical megalomaniac who ordered the killing of his writers and philosophers and burned books written about previous kings and rulers so that Chinese history begins with him. But these seemingly evil ways ironically resulted into today's magnificent structures (Great Wall) and discoveries. One of these great discoveries were Emperor Qin's Terra-cotta army. These thousand-years-buried treasures are located about 1.5 kilometers east of the Emperor QinShihuang's mausoleum, symbolizing the main defending force that guarded the capital before Emperor Qin died. These soldiers were to accompany him in the afterlife. Until today, no one has seen the Emperors body due to the elaborate network of traps and poisons (mercury) he designed while he was alive.

The Terracotta soldier were never mentioned in the historical records until Pit 1 (first excavated area) was discovered in March 1974 by local Chinese farmers while drilling a well. During our visit, we had the opportunity to meet the farmer who discovered the site and had our special Terracotta book, which is available only in Xian, autographed by him. Then years later, archaeologists began the explorations and excavations of the Terracotta Army. On October 1, 1979 Emperor Qin's Terra-Cotta Warriors and Horses Museum was opened to the public about 35 kilometers East of Xian, China. The Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum receives over 2,000,000 Chinese and Foreign Tourists a year with an annual ticket income of around 150 million yuan.

The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor was included as a World Heritage Site on the basis of Cultural Criteria I, III, IV and VI.

Criterion I. Because of their exceptional technical and artistic qualities, the terracotta warriors and horses, and the funerary carts in bronze are major works in the history of Chinese sculpture prior to the reign of the Han dynasty.

Criterion III. The army of statues bears unique testimony to the military organization in China at the time of the Warring Kingdoms (475-221 B.C.) and that of the short-lived Empire of a Thousand Generations (221-210 B.C.). The direct testimony of the objects found in situ (lances, swords, axes, halberds, bows, arrows, etc.) is evident. The documentary value of a group of hyper-realistic sculptures where no detail has been neglected from the uniforms of the warriors, their arms, to even the horses' halters- is enormous. Furthermore, the information to be gleaned from the statues concerning the craft and techniques of potters and bronze-workers is immeasurable.

Criterion IV. The mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang is the largest preserved one in China. It is a unique architectural ensemble whose layout echoes the urban plan of the capital, Xianyang, with the imperial palace enclosed by the walls of the city, themselves encircled by other walls. This capital of the Qin (to which succeeded on the present site of Xian the capitals of the Han, Sui, Tang, Ming and Qing dynasties) is a microcosm of the Zhongguo (Middle Country) that Qin Shi Huang wanted both to unify (he imposed throughout the land a single system of writing, money, weights and measures) and to protect from the barbarians that could arrive from any direction (the army which watches over the dead emperor faces outward from the tomb).

Criterion VI. The mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang is associated with an event of universal significance: the first unification of the Chinese territory by a centralized state created by an absolute monarch in 221 B.C.

THE FDC COVER FOR SOKOL CONVENTION PRAGUE 1948 WITH CZECHOSLOVAK ANTHEM

2011-11-24T08:46:00.000-08:00

This cover was published in Czechoslovakia in 1948 for its 11th SOKOL Convention.

"SOKOL" is a sport organization, Czechoslovak Sokol Community and Prague Sokol were played an important role by events around the foundation of the Czechoslovak Republic. This FDC includes 4 special overstamped stamps with the text:" PRAGUE 1948 Nationwide SOKOL Convention". On the cachet, we can see the words and music of Czechoslovak Anthem "Where is My Home" in Czech language. The size of the cover is 22 x 11 cm / 8.6 x 4.3 inches.

The FDC Cover for SOKOL Convention Prague 1948 with Czechoslovak Anthem and for occasional stamps.

'O Canada' on the 2011 Canadian Flag Definitive Stamps Series

2011-11-13T09:31:00.000-08:00

The sheer number of places where the Canadian flag is found was the creative impetus to this stamp series. According to Liz Wong, Stamp Design Manager for the series, the challenge was to take a very common but much beloved image like the flag, an image people are familiar with seeing on a stamp, but approach it in a fresh new way and present the flag in ways in which it’s actually used. “The Canadian Pride series draws your attention to both the common – and uncommon – places the flag appears.”

The five Permanent domestic stamps in this year’s issue demonstrate both personal and official appearances of the flag; on a traveller’s backpack, a hot air balloon, the Canadarm, and both a Canadian soldier’s and a search and rescue expert’s uniforms.

The stylized “O” (for “O Canada”) not only acts as a symbol of the national anthem, it also serves as a means of focusing attention on the flag and its surroundings.

Liz Wong adds that “by framing the visual with the “O” of “O Canada”, this stamp series is totally and unapologetically patriotic.”

Iranian Anthem Composer, Ruhollah Khaleqi, on Stamp

2011-11-05T08:59:00.000-07:00

On July 11, 2011, Iran issued a stamp on musician and composer Ruhollah Khaleqi known for his composition of Iran’s former national anthem "O, Iran". The stamp, printed in commemoration of the musician, was unveiled during a ceremony held on the side section of Iran’s National Orchestra performance in the presence of Iranian tar virtuoso Hossein Alizadeh.Khaleqi was brought up in a family of music lovers. He was a student of celebrated composer and musician Ali-Naqi Vaziri.His other credits include several books on music under the titles “History of Iranian Music” and “A View on Iranian Music.”

Rūhollāh Khāleqi (1906, Kerman, Iran – November 12, 1965, Salzburg, Austria) , also spelled as Khaleghi, was a prominent Iranian musician, composer, conductor and author. Ruhollah Khāleghi was born in Mahan, a small town near Kerman, in a musically minded family. He first became acquainted with the tar, but later started to learn to play the violin. As soon as Ali-Naqi Vaziri established his School of Music, Khāleghi left school and joined Vaziri's school, where he studied for eight years. Soon he became his master's assistant and was placed in charge of teaching music theory. He later continued his education and obtained a B.A. degree in Persian Language and Literature from the University of Tehran.

In 1944 Khāleghi established the National Music Society and in 1949, thanks to the efforts of this great artist, the School of National Music was founded. After his first journey to the former U.S.S.R. in 1955, he became involved in the Iran-Soviet Society and was selected as a member of its Board of Directors.

He also began to serve as the director of the Payām-e-Novin Magazine. His work, The History of Persian Music, which was published in two volumes, took shape during these years. His other published works include: Harmony of Western Music, Theory of Eastern Music, and Theory of Persian Music.

For many years Khāleghi worked as a musical advisor for Radio Iran and was one of the founders of the program known as Gol'hā (Flowers). He also conducted the Gol'hā Orchestra, for which he composed many pieces and revised the original compositions of his contemporaries as well as older masters, such as Āref and Sheydā. Although revised, the compositions retained all their original characteristics.

Khāleghi's compositions are not limited to what he wrote for Gol'hā. In addition to such masterpieces as Mey-e Nāb (Pure Wine), Āh-e Sahar (Sigh at Dawn), Hālā Cherā (Why Now?), and Chang-e Rudaki (Rudaki's Harp), he composed many other lyrical pieces and hymns, which were mostly patriotic. These include such works as Ey Iran (see Gholām-Hossein Banān) and the Hymn for Azarbaijan. Khāleghi established The National Music Society and Persian National Music Conservatory in 1949 in Tehran.

He died in 1965 in Salzburg, Austria and was buried in Zahir o-dowleh cemetery, Darband, Tehran.

China Anthem Composer, Ni Er, on Postcard

2011-10-25T08:48:00.000-07:00

Nie Er (February 14, 1912 — July 17, 1935), was a Chinese composer. He is known for composing the national anthem of the People's Republic of China, the March of the Volunteers. In numerous Shanghai magazines he went by the English name "George Njal".

Nie Er's ancestors were from Yuxi, Yunnan, in southwest China. He was born in Kunming, Yunnan. From an early age Nie Er displayed an interest in music. From 1918 he studied at the Kunming Normal School's Associated Primary School. In his spare time, he learnt to play traditional instruments such as the dizi, erhu, sanxian, and yueqin, and became the conductor of the school's Children's Orchestra. In 1922 he entered the Private Qiushi Primary School (Senior Section), and in 1925 entered Yunnan Provincial Number One Combined Middle School.

In 1927 Nie Er graduated from Yunnan Provincial Number One Combined Middle School, and entered Yunnan Provincial Number One Normal School. At school, he participated in the Book Club, and organised the "Nine-Nine Music Society", which performed within the school and outside. During this time, he learnt to play the violin and the piano.

In June 1931, Nie Er entered the "Mingyue Musical Drama Society" as a violinist. In July 1932 he published A Short Treatise on Chinese Song and Dance, in which he criticised the Drama Society's president, Li Jinhui, as a result of which he was forced to leave the society. Prior to joining the Lianhua Film Studio on November 1932, he took part in shaping the Bright Moonlight Song and Dance Troupe. He later joined the musical group of the "Friends of the Soviet Union Society". He also organised the "Chinese Contemporary Music Research Group", which participated in the Leftist Dramatist's Union. In 1933, Nie Er joined the Communist Party of China.

In April 1934, Nie Er joined the Baak Doi record company and managed the musical section. In the same year he founded the Pathé National Orchestra. This was a prolific year for Nie Er in terms of musical output. In early 1935, he composed the March of the Volunteers. In January 1935 Nie Er became the director of the musical department of Lianhua Number Two Studio.

On July 17, 1935, he drowned while swimming in Japan, at the age of 23. He might have been en route to the Soviet Union, passing through Japan to receive training, sent by the Chinese Communist Party. Some suspect that he was killed by Japanese right-wing radicals. Others suspect that he was killed by Chinese Nationalists, as he was in Japan to flee from them. However, as he disappeared while swimming with his friends, killing him was difficult, and swimming in mid-July is a bit early there, so he most likely drowned. He was found by the local rescue team the following day. According to them and the police, the condition from his body was not different from that of ordinary drowned bodies.

Nie Er wrote a total of 37 pieces in his life, all in the two years before his death. A significant proportion of these songs reflected working class life and struggles. He often collaborated with lyricist Tian Han.

Galician Anthem Composer and Lyricist on a Special FDC Cancel

2011-10-23T09:58:00.000-07:00

Pascual Veiga Iglesias ( April 9 of 1842 - Madrid , July 12 of 1906 ) was a musician, musical director, organist and composer of the National Anthem of Galicia.

Veiga started his musical studies as a child in the choir of the Cathedral Mindoniense. At thirteen he began to teach music theory and harmony in the chapel of the cathedral. In 1964 he moved to La Coruña and served as organist of the Church of Our Lady of the Field. In 1865 he was appointed vice president of Section Music Society Youth Fraternity. His dedication to music led him to win a prize in 1877 with the Glee Club Bragantino. He left year later, and founded the Glee Club Corunna. In 1880 he was invited by the Society of Floral Games of Pontevedra , and premiered his most emblematic work, the Alborada Gallega. Two years later he founded El Nuevo Orfeon, which soon became known as el Orfeon Echo, and that continues today. In 1889 he founded the Choral Society called Corunna Number 4, a group that won the gold medal and the Academic Palms during the Universal Exhibition of Paris of 1889. In 1896 he was living in Madrid, where he works as director of the Centro Galego Matritense Choir and at the same time developing the teaching at the National Conservatory of Music. He was also organist at the Church of St. Dominic of Betanzos and Collegiate A Coruña.

He died in 1906 in Madrid, and in 1912 his remains were transferred to Mondoñedo to be buried in a mausoleum dedicated by his admirers and friends. Six months after his death, the Galician Center Gran Teatro of Havana premiered ' The Pin , poem by Eduardo Pondal put in music by Veiga, who later was considered the anthem of Galicia.

Above is a FDC with a special cancel featuring the Galician anthem composer Pascual Veiga and lyricist Eduardo Pondal

The Anthem of Taiwan on Metered FDC

2011-10-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

This is the First Day Cover of 2011 ROCUPEX Taipei Stamps Exhibition Meter Stamp from Formosa (Taiwan), Republic of China. The 2011 ROCUPEX Taipei Stamps Exhibition commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Republic (Oct 07-12,2011). This FDC, issued on October 7, 2011 features the image of National Anthem of the Republic of China. This cover is a design error with 2 wrong Chinese characters in the National Anthem of the meter stamp. The special meter shows the score of the National anthem. The anthem lyrics in traditional Chinese script is seen on the cachet. This FDC has a face value of 25 new Taiwan dollar.

Liberian Anthem Lyrics on an Unissued Souvenir Sheet

2011-10-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire. Liberia, which means "Land of the Free", was founded as an independent nation by free-born and formerly enslaved African Americans. Recently it has witnessed two civil wars, the Liberian Civil War (1989–1996), and the Second Liberian Civil War (1999–2003), that have displaced hundreds of thousands and destroyed its economy.

The national anthem of Liberia, "All Hail, Liberia Hail" was composed by Olmstead Luca in 1869. The words to the anthem of this second oldest independent African nation were written by the nation's third president, Daniel Bashiel Warner, and adopted upon independence in 1847. Presumably, the anthem first had a different melody, as the current music was written in 1860.

Above is an unissued souvenir sheet featuring the Liberian anthem lyrics.

Rota- Anthem of the Polish National-Territorial Region

2011-09-21T06:17:00.000-07:00

The Polish National-Territorial Region (Polish: Polski Kraj Narodowo-Terytorialny) was an autonomous region in Lithuania, self-proclaimed by the local Poles on 6 September 1990. The region included areas surrounding Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, where Poles formed the majority (60–90%). This Eastern part of Lithuania had been part of Poland (from 1922) before being attached to Lithuania under the Mutual Assistance Treaty with the Soviet Union in 1939.

The autonomy region with capital in Naujoji Vilnia included 4,930 km² and population of 215,000 (66% of them Poles). The Polish autonomous movement was related to the Yedinstvo movement and had tacit support from Moscow (thus, when following the Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania the Soviets applied a blockade against Lithuania, the areas of Eastern Lithuania with significant minority population were mostly spared of the blockade, with the aim of gaining minorities' support for Moscow). In the region, the Polish Red-and-White flags were used as official flag and Rota was used as an anthem in the region.

Rota's lyrics were written in 1908 by Maria Konopnicka. The music was composed two years later by Feliks Nowowiejski. Konopnicka's poem came into being as a protest against the German Empire's oppression and suppression of Polish culture in German-occupied western Poland — lands that from the late 18th century after the Partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to 1918 were under Prussian — and later, German — rule.

Rota was first sung publicly during a patriotic demonstration in Kraków on July 15, 1910, held to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Polish-Lithuanian victory over the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald. The anthem quickly became popular across partitioned Poland. Until 1918, Rota served as the anthem of the Polish Scouting movement. After Poland regained independence in 1918, Rota, in 1927, found itself under consideration for a time as a possible Polish national anthem.

The Lithuanian government declared the formation of the Polish autonomous district in Lithuania unconstitutional. After the August Coup of the Soviet hardliners had failed, the Lithuanian parliament suspended on 3 September 1991 the democratically elected local councils that had sought autonomy or secession from Lithuania, thus abolishing the anthem.

Above is a FDC of the composer of Rota, Feliks Nowowiejski, issued by Poland in 2010

The New National Anthem of Libya

2011-09-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

Libya, Libya, Libya (also known as Ya Beladi, "Oh my country!"), composed by Mohammed Abdel Wahab, is the new national anthem of Libya. He also composed the music for the anthems of Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. The anthem was used until the monarchy was abolished in a coup by Moammar Qadaffi in 1969, when it was replaced with a new anthem. It was originally the national anthem from independence in 1951 until 1969 when King Idris I was overthrown by a Coup d'état led by Muammar al-Gaddafi. Gaddafi adopted the Egyptian marching song Allahu Akbar (God is Greatest) as the national anthem of the newly proclaimed Libyan Arab Republic. The anthem was a Muslim call to prayer and a statement of faith composed by Abdalla Shams El-Din and lyrics written by Mahmoud El-Sherif.

During the 2011 Libyan civil war, Libya, Libya, Libya was declared the new national anthem and restored by the transitional government.

Above is a first day cover of the Libyan anthem composer Mohammed Abdel Wahab issued by Egypt.

The Rising Sun of Argentina as Described in the First Version of its Anthem

2011-09-08T08:57:00.000-07:00

It is still unknown who designed the coat of arms, but it is often mentioned that there were three men: Alvear, Monteagudo and Vieytes, but it is known that a few years before, President Bernardino Rivadavia asked the Peruvian Antonio Isidoro Castro to create an Argentine coat of arms, but the two schemes were never found. The coat of arms is a figure, in which we find the following symbols: At the top is the famous sun symbol of Argentina, the gold-yellowed Sun of May, also found on the Flag of Argentina. The rising sun symbolizes the rising of Argentina, as described in the first version of the Argentine National Anthem: it says "Se levanta a la faz de la tierra una nueva y gloriosa nación," meaning "A new and glorious nation rises to the surface of earth." It must be noticed how the verb "rise" (and so in Spanish) can be used to describe the motion of the Sun.

Kazach Anthem Composers- Mukan Tulebayev, Eugeny Brusilovsky and Latif Khamidi on Stamps and Postcard

2011-08-21T06:52:00.000-07:00

The national anthem of the Republic of Kazakhstan or National Anthem of the Republic of Kazakhstan was the title of the old national anthem of Kazakhstan, when it was adopted as the anthem from 1992 to early 2006. Upon independence in December 1991, the melody of the Kazakh SSR anthem, composed by Mukan Tulebayev, Eugeny Brusilovsky and Latif Khamidi, was retained; and new lyrics were adopted in 1992, written by Muzafar Alimbayev, Kadyr Myrzaliyev, Tumanbai Moldagaliyev and Zhadyra Daribayeva.

On January 7, 2006, "My Kazakhstan", written in 1956, was adopted as the new anthem, with modified lyrics.

We are a valiant people, sons of honor,
And all we've sacrificed to gain our freedom.
Emerging from malicious grip of fate, from hell of fire,
We scored a victory of glory and success.

Chorus:
Soar high up in the sky, oh, eagle of freedom,
Call up to harmony, agreement and accord!
For hero's might and strength is in the nation,
Just as the unity is nation's razing sword.

While honoring our mothers and respecting
The cream of cream of our rising nation
We welcomed all ill-starred and struck by ruin...
Our homeland, the steppe, a sacred cradle
Of friendship and accord
Gave all a shelter and a hearty refuge.

Chorus:

We've overcome the hardships
Let the past serve bitter lesson
But ahead we face a radiant future.
We bequeath our sacred legacy implying our mother tongue
And sovereignty and valour and traditions
So dearly cherished by our forefathers
As true mandate to future generations.

Dobri Hristov and the Bulgarian National Anthem

2011-08-21T00:54:00.000-07:00

Mila Rodino ("Dear Motherland") is based on the music and text of the song Gorda Stara Planina ("Stately Stara Planina") composed by a 22-year old student, Tsvetan Radoslavov, as he left home to fight in the Serbo-Bulgarian War in 1885. Stara Planina is the traditional Bulgarian name of the Balkan mountains, extending 560 km from East Serbia, through central Bulgaria to the Black Sea. Radoslavov was born in Svishtov in 1863, and he later graduated in philosophy in Leipzig. His original song, Gorda Stara Planina was adapted by the composer Dobri Hristov in 1905 and became the national anthem of Bulgaria in 1963, replacing the previous anthem, "Balgariyo Mila" (Dear Bulgaria) composed by Georgi Zlatev-Tscherkin, Svetoslav Obretenov and Georgi Dimitri. Radoslavov was also a well-known scientist in Bulgaria and despite invitations to work in Vienna, Leipzig and Prague, he returned to Bulgaria to teach European and ancient languages, psychology, ethics and logic at the Third High School for Boys in Sofia.

Incidentally, Dobri Hristov (1875-1941) was one of the most important Bulgarian composers of the 20th century. Born in Varna, Bulgaria, he graduated from the Prague Conservatory in 1903 (the director at the time was none other than Antonín Dvořák). Hristov wrote orchestral and choral works using elements of Bulgarian folklore. The text of the anthem has been changed on several occasions, most recently in 1990. Bulgaria also has a Royal anthem composed by Emanuil Manolov, and the lyrics by Major General Georgi Agura.

Above is a stamp of Dobri Hristov issued by Bulgaria in 1975 to celebrate the centennial of his birth.

Macedonian Anthem Composer,Todor Skalovski, on Stamp

2011-08-20T10:05:00.000-07:00

Todor Skalovski (born 21 January 1909, Tetovo, Ottoman Empire – died 1 July 2004, Skopje, Republic of Macedonia) was a famous Macedonian composer, chorus and orchestra conductor.

He was the founder of the First Macedonian State Symphony Orchestra, (1945. - 1948) and was editor in chief of Radio Skopje and chief conductor Radioorkestra (1948 - 1954). He directed and conducted the Skopje Opera, since 1954 and later became the director and conductor of the Philharmonic Republic of Macedonia. His compositions were mostly vocal works. Other works include October Cantata II, Suite Baltepe, Macedonian Oro, 2 rhapsodies, Zalez, The size ANIJA (on John Kukuzela), Prispivna song. He is best known as the composer of the Macedonian anthem "Denes Nad Makedonija".

Above is a stamp of Macedonian composers born in 1909. Todor Skalovski is the composer on the left. The stamp was issued in 2009.

Naphtali Herz Imber, Israeli Anthem Lyricist

2011-08-15T09:12:00.000-07:00

Naphtali Herz Imber was a Jewish poet and Zionist who wrote the lyrics of Hatikvah, the national anthem of the State of Israel.

Naphtali was born in Złoczów (now Zolochiv, Ukraine), a town in Galicia, Austrian Empire. He began writing poetry at the age of 10 and several years later received an award from Emperor Franz Joseph for a poem on the centenary of Bukovina's joining to the Austrian Empire. In his youth he traveled in Hungary, Serbia, and Romania.

In 1882 Imber moved to Palestine as a secretary of Sir Laurence Oliphant. In 1886 in Jerusalem he published his first book of poems entitled Morning Star. One of the book's poems was Tikvateinu ("Our Hope"); its very first version was written yet in 1877 in Iaşi, Romania. This poem soon became the lyrics of the Zionist anthem and later the Israeli national anthem Hatikvah.

In 1887 he returned to Europe and lived in London; then traveled again, visited India and finally moved to the Unites States in 1892. Imber made a mockery of the serious and had a sardonic vulgar wit. He also translated the Omar Khayyam into Hebrew. He died in New York in 1909 from the effects of chronic alcoholism; in 1953 was re-interred in Jerusalem.

Gastroenterology on Stamps 2

2011-08-14T07:19:00.000-07:00

This is the second of the special series on Gastroenterology on stamps. Click here to see first series. Featured here are the first day cover of the 3rd Panhellinic Congress of Gastroenterology issued by Greece in 1974, three special covers from Romania issued in 1993 for the National Symposium of Gastroenterology and Digestive Endoscopy, which had a special cancel and postmark and a Gastroenterology Week- Protection against AIDS stamp issued by Greece in 1992.

In this connection, the PSDE Commander General, Dr. Jonathan Sandejas is encouraging and inviting all gastroenterologist to join the 2011 Live Endoscopy Boot Camp and Workshop at NKI on August 17-19. Several GI topics will be tackled and "Meet the Masters" session is back. Three international faculties from Singapore, India and Thailand will share their expertise. Hope to see you there.

The National Anthems of India and Bangladesh on One Miniature Sheet

2011-08-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

Rabindranath Tagore (7 May 1861 – 7 August 1941) was a Bengali polymath who reshaped Bengali literature and music. Author of Gitanjali and its "profoundly sensitive, fresh and beautiful verse", he was the first non-European Nobel laureate. His poetry in translation was viewed as spiritual, and this together with his mesmerizing persona gave him a prophet-like aura in the West. His "elegant prose and magical poetry" remain largely unknown outside Bengal.

A Pirali Brahmin from Kolkata, Tagore had been writing poetry since he was eight years old. At age 16, he published his first substantial poetry under the pseudonym Bhanushingho ("Sun Lion") and wrote his first short stories and dramas in 1877. Tagore achieved further note when he denounced the British Raj and supported Indian independence. His efforts endure in his vast canon and in the institution he founded, Visva-Bharati University.

He also wrote and composed the National Anthems of India and Bangladesh.

Above is the Bangladesh New Limited Issue Miniature Sheet of 2011 on Nobel Laureate with Nobel Literature Medal Rabindranath Tagore on His 150th Birth Anniversary. The National Flag & national Anthem of both countries are written on both side of the Miniature Sheet. Only 250 FDC's were issued.

The Official Anthem of the Free State of Bavaria in FDC

2011-08-11T07:41:00.000-07:00

The Bayernhymne (Hymn of Bavaria) is the official anthem of the Free State of Bavaria.

The melody of the song was written by Max Kunz in 1835. The text for the original first three stanzas was written by Michael Öchsner. Both men were members of the Bürger-Sänger-Zunft München (Citizen-Singers-Guild Munich), that first performed the song on December 15, 1860. In 1946, the poet Joseph Maria Lutz wrote a new third stanza as a replacement for the 'Königsstrophe' (King's Stanza), since after the abdication of King Ludwig III in 1918, Bavaria has been without a king. He also replaced the 'Deutsche Erde' (German earth) in the first stanza with 'Heimaterde' (native soil).

In 1946, it was also officially recognized as the national anthem of Bavaria, and on July 29, 1966, the then prime minister of Bavaria, Alfons Goppel, chose the version written by Joseph Maria Lutz to be the official version. In 1980, the Bavarian minister-president Franz Josef Straub, changed the official version to contain just the first two stanzas and switched 'Heimaterde' back to 'Deutsche Erde'.

The song, like most national anthems, contains many symbolic representations, including repeated allusions to the colors white and blue, Bavaria's national colors, especially describing Bavaria's Himmel, which can refer to both sky and heaven.

The First Day Cover above features Max Kunz, the composer of the Bavarian Hymn issued by Germany in 2010, the 150th Anniversary.

Jose Rizal's Original Pencil Sketch of Leonor Rivera

2011-07-15T09:18:00.000-07:00

It was truly an honor to have seen the original pencil sketch of one of Rizal's "passion" and probably his only true love- Leonor Rivera. The avid Rizal collector who bought this sketch paid more than a million for its acquisition. He had a choice between this piece and a sketch of Josephine Bracken, but he chose the "passion" over the wife. Most of Leonor Rivera's (the original Maria Clara) pictures posted in the net are crayon sketches or reproductions. This one is the original pencil sketch.

Leonor Rivera was a native of Dagupan, Pangasinan. She was 13 years old when she and Rizal met in Manila. Apparently, they were first cousins, but they later became childhood sweethearts, a love that was mostly nurtured through love letters, as Rizal had to go to Europe for his studies. Being Rizal's sweetheart for eleven years, she played the greatest influence in keeping him from falling in love with other women during his travels. Unfortunately, Leonor’s mother disapproved of her daughter’s relationship with Rizal, who was then a known Filibuster. She hid from Leonor all of Rizal's letters sent to her. Leonor believing that Rizal had already forgotten her, sadly consented to marry her mother's choice, the Englishman Henry Kipping, a Manila-Dagupan railroad engineer. News of their marriage devastated Rizal. Leonor Rivera died at childbirth at a tender age of 25.

She was immortalized by Rizal as the character María Clara in the Spanish-language novel Noli Me Tangere.

A Unique Rizal Stamp

2011-07-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

I have several Jose Rizal stamps in my collection, but the 1941 apple-hued 2c Commonwealth Regular is one of a kind. This stamp features the young Rizal as rendered by the New York photographer Elaine Rawlinson. The image on this stamp was copied from a menu card which won a stamp design contest sponsored by the Asociacion Filateleca de Filipinas. The stamp cause quite a stir among keen philatelist who noticed that Rizal's hair was parted on the right instead of the usual left! This is the only Rizal stamp which portrays his hair as such.

This stamp also became the first stamp of a series of postage stamps bearing the inscription "United States of America- Commonwealth of the Philippines". This replaced the the 1935 Commonwealth overprint series and as the last of the pre-war issues. I acquired a few of the stamps bearing this inscription and these include the 1906 Jose Rizal PI-USA stamp- the first Jose Rizal stamp ever issued and the first stamp featuring a Filipino, the 1935 Pictorial Stamp 2 c Red Rizal Issue, the 1936 75th Birth Anniversary Issue, and the 2c sepia 1946 Rizal Regular and Official Issue released on May 28, 1946. This stamp was the last stamp released by the American Administrations Commonwealth because on July 4 of that same year, the Republic of the Philippines was born.

The Ancient Culture Street of Tianjin

2011-07-04T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Tianjin Ancient Culture Street dates back 600 years ago. It stands in the key section in upstream Haihe River, which is located in Nankai district of Tianjin. Covering an area of 224,200 sq meters, it used to be one of earliest water transport docklands in Tianjin, one of the busiest cities of commerce and trade in ancient China. As a cultural precinct, Tianjin Ancient Culture Street is well known by the local and overseas tourists alike.

As the result of the Tian Hou Temple expansions, and renovations of the Yu Huang Ge and Haihe Lou building, this street, with its fine landscape and distinctive architectural style, has been a flourishing cultural and tourist area.

Standing at the center of Tianjin Ancient Cultural Street, Tianhou Palace, originally built in 1326, is one of only three Mazu (Goddess of the Sea) Temples in the world (the other two are Fujian Mazu Temple and Beigang Chaotian Temple on Taiwan Island). Tianhou Palace is now the Folk-custom Museum of Tianjin and displays many folk crafts and cultural relics of ancient times. Yuhuang Cabinet is the only building that was built during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) in Tianjin, and is the oldest structure in the street. From the top of the two-floor Cabinet, visitors have a bird's-eye view of the whole street. Another building, Tong Qingli (ancient residential houses), built in 1913 and lying to the east of the cultural street, is the largest architectural edifice that combines both eastern and western architectural elements.

Looking closely, visitors will note that buildings along the street are all built with 'blue bricks', and that the doors and windows have colorful paintings drawn upon them. These paintings range from stories of legendary and historical figures to flowers and birds. Some retell stories contained in Chinese classical novels, such as The Dream of a Red Mansion (one the four Chinese classical novels) and Song of Eternal Sorrow, which is a story about the Empress Yang Kwei Fei in the Tang Dynasty (618-907).

Visitors who are interested in Chinese traditional handicrafts will also appreciate another Tianjin Ancient Cultural Street attraction - the hundreds of stores selling a wide variety of folk handicrafts. These include the famous Yang Liuqing New Year Paintings and Niren Zhang Painted Sculptures. Visitors who are fond of Chinese curios, such as jade items, cloisonné and potteries, will also be able to find many examples of these for sale here. The street is also a favorite place to sample the delicious Tianjin local snacks. The local delicacies include Goubuli Steamed Dumplings, Erduoyan (the Ear-hole Lane) Fried Glutinous Cakes and tea soup.

Tianjin Ancient Cultural Street is designed as a place for tourists to experience Chinese folk custom, and as such, contains examples of nearly all the Tianjin local culture in one place. For an added experience, when visiting the street on March 23rd (lunar calendar), visitors will be lucky enough to find the Huanghui Fair, which is held annually on this date. During the Fair you will see performances of stilt walking, dragon lantern, land boat and lion dances.

The set of 4 stamps above features Tianjin sculptures issued in 1996.

The West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou

2011-07-03T09:20:00.000-07:00

The West Lake Cultural Landscape of Hangzhou, comprising the West Lake and the hills surrounding its three sides, has inspired famous poets, scholars and artists since the 9th century. It comprises numerous temples, pagodas, pavilions, gardens and ornamental trees, as well as causeways and artificial islands. This area is one of the latest to have earned the title UNESCO World Heritage site.

The West Lake has influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea over the centuries and bears an exceptional testimony to the cultural tradition of improving landscapes to create a series of vistas reflecting an idealized fusion between humans and nature.

Hangzhou is famous for three things: its water, its fertile and picturesque countryside, and ancient tradition- all three combined in a perfectly brewed cup of Longjing tea. A visit to the Longjing Tea Plantation makes for a nice side trip from Hangzhou's main attractions. About 30 minutes by bicycle from downtown, situated just southwest of West Lake, the village of Longjing presents visitors with secluded paths running through a terraced landscape with tea growing on all sides. We were able to witness the harvesting and processing of the tea and sample different grades and varieties. A demonstration of the art of tea drinking was both informative and entertaining.

Ideally made with water straight from the Dragon Well and leaves picked from the terraces of the Longjing Plantation, a cup of this delicate green tea connects you with some two thousand years of history, going back to the second century AD when Dragon Well water was discovered and combined with green tea leaves lightly fried to stop the oxidation process and preserve the best of their flavor and nutrients. We learned from our guide that the new budding leaf is reserved only for royalty, hence the term "Empress Tea".

We also visited the Residence of Hu Xueyan, a wealthy businessman from Hangzhou in the late 1800’s. His residence is located in southern Hangzhou not far from shore of West Lake. Hu originally made his fortune as a banker, but expanded his business to pawnbroker, import-export, real estate, and finally made is biggest fortune as the founder of a Chinese herbal medicine company. He built his house in 1872, and it was a huge complex and covers at least a couple of acres. Included in that area are extensive garden areas, a huge complex of artificial caves, and all sorts of rooms for family, servants, guests, eating, reading, etc. The majority of the buildings were built of a dark brown wood that looks very similar to teak, but one large section of buildings is built of a lighter honey-colored wood. Hu’s descendants mortgaged the house and lost it after his death and it passed though a series of owners until the provincial government acquired it, restored it, and turned it into a museum of sorts.

The Supattra Land Orchard in Rayong

2011-07-03T00:01:00.000-07:00

Supattra Land Orchard is a fruit farm located in Rayong, Thailand. Rayong is a city located on the shore of the Gulf of Thailand, in the east coast region. It is the capital of Rayong Province, and covers the Tambon Tha Pradu and Pak Nam and parts of Tambon Choeng Noen and Noen Phra, all within Mueang Rayong district. As of 2005 the population was 54,641. Its main industries include fishing, chemicals and auto industries. It also grows some fruits and is the main producer of Thailand's fish sauce.

After our visit to the picturesque Pattaya, we made a side trip to this beautiful province to see some of its attractions. This fruit lover's paradise is located in the Bankhai district. We were able to visit the Supattra Land Orchard and savor its fruity gustatory delights. The orchard is open to the public and for a minimal fee of 120 Baht, guests can taste any fruit once can see in the vast farm. Some of the fruits here include the durian, rambutan, mango, grape, star fruit, dragon fruit, rose apple, and longan. The orchard is open daily for tourists from 8.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m.

Dr. Jose Rizal @ 150 on Stamps

2011-06-18T19:59:00.000-07:00

In line with 150th birth centenary of our National Hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, several tourism and philatelic related activities are ongoing. The Department of Tourism (DoT) opened the "Lakbay Jose Rizal @ 150," a year-long tour that allows tourists to retrace the national hero's steps by visiting as many as 27 Rizal sites in the country. Participants will be given "Lakbay passports" and a special stamp for every Rizal site they visit.

The National Historical Commission of the Philippines, in partnership with the Philippine Postal Corporation, also held a stamp design contest entitled “150TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF JOSE RIZAL STAMP DESIGN CONTEST” with the theme Rizal: Haligi ng Bayan. The contest was participated by students, amateurs and professionals and judging was held last March 1, 2011 at the NHCP Building. Dir. Jeremy Barns of the National Museum; Dr. Ngo Tiong Tak from Philippine Postal Corporation, Mr. Danilo Pangan from the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and Mr. Fidel Sarmiento from the Art Association of the Philippines, served as judges.

The Philippine Postal Corporation, meanwhile, is issuing commemorative stamps and souvenir sheets that honor Rizal. The postal service is also hosting an exhibit of Rizaliana stamps and other memorabilia at the Manila Central Post Office lobby at the Liwasang Bonifacio. The exhibit will run until the 30th of June. Stamps Clubs and Philatelic Societies all aver the country are also exhibiting their Rizal stamp collections.

Cebu City is one of the 27 historic Rizal sites included in the Lakbay Rizal @150. The S.S. España docked in Cebu on August 2, 1896 for a routine one-day stop over. After breakfast on board, Commander Carcinero took Rizal under custody to the Spanish Military Commander of Cebu, Gen. Adulfo Montero in the Military Headquarters located in Fort San Pedro.

Currently some items from the USP Rizal Museum are on exhibit at the the 2nd Floor, Ayala Center in Cebu. These include the original woolen coat and camisa chino shirts worn by the National Hero.

Above is the block of stamps of Rizal issued for his 150th Birth Anniversary in 2011. Below is my Lakbay Rizal Passport stamped during my visit to Fort San Pedro.

50th Anniversary of the Swiss National Anthem on Stamp

2011-06-16T06:29:00.000-07:00

Until the end of the 19th century, there was no Swiss national anthem. The German-language patriotic song Rufst du, mein Vaterland, composed in 1811 by Johann Rudolf Wyss (1743–1818), was the first national anthem, used until 1961. The Swiss Psalm was composed in 1841 by Alberich Zwyssig (1808–1854), with lyrics by Leonhard Widmer (1809–1867). Since then it has been frequently suggested it be adopted as the official anthem, but the Swiss Federal Government has refused several times, wishing to let the people decide what they want to sing on political and military occasions.

The setting of the hymn to the British tune of God Save the Queen led to embarrassing situations when both countries' anthems were played. Therefore it was replaced with another tune in 1961. After a trial period of three years the Swiss tune was adopted indefinitely in 1965. The statute could not be challenged until ten years later but did not totally exclude the possibility of an ultimate change. A competition was set up in 1979 to search for a successor to the anthem. Despite many submissions, none of the others seemed to express the Swiss sentiment.

The Swiss anthem finally got its definitive statutory status in April 1981, the Federal Council maintaining that it was purely a Swiss song suitably dignified and solemn.

The block of 4 stamps above features the Cross (emblem in Swiss flag) with the titles of the anthem in the official languages issued on 2011, the 50th year anniversary.

The Malacca Stamp Museum

2011-06-13T04:25:00.000-07:00

Malacca's rich cultural history makes it a haven of museums. One of the several museums located here is the The Malacca Stamp Museum (Muzium Setem Melaka) was formerly the Melaka State Museum. It is also known as the "Sekolah Gambar". Originally, it was used as the residence for Dutch dignitaries living in Malacca. On March 19, 1954, G.E. Wisdom, the resident commissioner of Melaka converted this building into a state museum. However in 1982, the museum was moved to the Stradthuys. Now it houses the Melaka Stamp Museum. The Department of Museums and Antiquity has gazetted it as an ancient monument according to section 15 of the Antiquities Act.

The museum showcases various stamps, first day covers, philatelic products and bank notes. The museum opens daily from 9am to 5 pm except Mondays and during Friday lunchtime (12 noon-2:45 pm). It is presently located at the St. Paul's Hill, in between the Islamic Museum and Umno Museum. Admission is 1 Ringgit.

St. Paul's Church Ruins in Malacca

2011-06-13T04:11:00.000-07:00

After a 2 hour ride through the wide and smooth highways of Selangor, we arrive at the St Paul’s Church in Malacca, a breezy sanctuary reached after a steep flight of stairs. Originally built by a Portuguese captain in 1521, the church offers views over Malacca from the summit of Bukit St. Paul. Inside the decaying stone interior are intricately engraved tombstones of the Dutch nobility that are buried here. The church was regularly visited by St Francis Xavier, and following his death in China the saint’s body was temporarily interred here for nine months before being transferred to Goa, where it remains today. Visitors can look into his ancient tomb, which is surrounded by a wire fence, in the center of the church and a marble statue of the saint gazes wistfully over the city. When the Dutch completed their own Christ Church in 1590 at the base of the hill, St Paul fell into disuse. Under the British a lighthouse was built and the church eventually ended up as a storehouse for gunpowder. The church has been in ruins for more than 150 years.

The Magnificent Batu Caves

2011-06-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

On a laid back Sunday afternoon without traffic, once can reach this magnificent destination in 20 minutes from the KL city center. The Batu Cave temple complex rises almost 100 m above the ground and consists of three main caves and a few smaller ones. The biggest, referred to as Cathedral Cave or Temple Cave, has a 100 m-high ceiling and features ornate Hindu shrines. To reach it, visitors must climb a steep flight of 272 steps. My wife had no problems climbing the steps this time, as they were relatively "easier" compared to the Great Wall climb. The cave is located in Gombak district, 13 kilometers (8 mi) north of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It takes its name from the Sungai Batu or Batu River, which flows past the hill. Batu Caves is also the name of the nearby village.

The cave is one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India, dedicated to Lord Murugan. It is the focal point of Hindu festival of Thaipusam in Malaysia. The limestone forming Batu Caves is said to be around 400 million years old. Some of the cave entrances were used as shelters by the indigenous Temuan people (a tribe of Orang Asli). There was a festival happening during our visit. There were several elaborate dances and traditional Hindu music playing with long queues of devotees inside the temples.

The Batu Caves was promoted as a place of worship by K. Thamboosamy Pillai, an Indian trader. He was inspired by the 'vel'-shaped entrance of the main cave and was inspired to dedicate a temple to Lord Muruga within the caves. A 42.7-metre (140 ft) high statue of Lord Muruga was unveiled in January 2006, having taken 3 years to construct. It is the tallest Lord Muruga statue in the world.

Forbidden City on Stamp

2011-06-06T04:18:00.000-07:00

The Forbidden City was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty. It is located in the middle of Beijing, China, and now houses the Palace Museum. For almost five hundred years, it served as the home of emperors and their households, as well as the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government.

Built in 1406 to 1420, the complex consists of 980 buildings with 8,707 bays of rooms and covers 720,000 m2 (7,800,000 sq ft). The palace complex exemplifies traditional Chinese palatial architecture, and has influenced cultural and architectural developments in East Asia and elsewhere. The Forbidden City was declared a World Heritage Site in 1987, and is listed by UNESCO as the largest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world.

Since 1925, the Forbidden City has been under the charge of the Palace Museum, whose extensive collection of artwork and artifacts were built upon the imperial collections of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Part of the museum's former collection is now located in the National Palace Museum in Taipei. Both museums descend from the same institution, but were split after the Chinese Civil War.

The stamp above features the Forbidden City issued in 1954.

Tiananmen Square on Stamp

2011-06-06T04:01:00.000-07:00

Tiananmen Square is the largest city square in the world measuring 440,000 m² - 880m by 500m. It is located in the center of China's capital, Beijing, and named after the Tiananmen Gate, also called the Gate of Purification. This gate separates the Forbidden City from the Tiananmen Square. It has great cultural significance as it was the site of several important events in Chinese history. Outside China, the square is best known in recent memory as the focal point of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989, a pro-democracy movement which ended on 4 June 1989 with the declaration of martial law in Beijing by the government and the death of hundreds, perhaps more, of protesters. When I visited Beijing, the Chinese nationals were not aware of the said massacre because media was banned from covering the event.

Used as a massive meeting place since its creation, its flatness is contrasted by the 38-meter (125 ft) high Monument to the People's Heroes, and the Mausoleum of Mao Zedong. The square lies between two ancient, massive gates: the Tian'anmen to the north and the Zhengyangmen, better known as Qianmen to the south. Along the west side of the Square is the Great Hall of the People. Along the east side is the National Museum of China (dedicated to Chinese history predating 1919). Chang'an Avenue, which is used for parades, lies between the Tian'anmen and the Square. Trees line the east and west edges of the Square, but the square itself is open, with neither trees nor benches. The Square is lit with large lampposts which are fitted with video cameras. It is heavily monitored by uniformed and plain clothes policemen.

The souvenir sheet above features the flags of China and Tiananman Square issued in 2009.

The Tianjin Eye- The Ferris Wheel on a Bridge

2011-06-02T23:52:00.000-07:00

After a 30 minute ride via the South Beijing terminal super train (with speeds of 329km/hr), we arrived at the picturesque Northern city of Tianjin, China. Its main attractions include the Ancient Culture Street, the Tianjin and Boxer Rebellion Museum, Jinwan Square and the Tianjin eye. The Tianjin Eye is a 120-metre (390 ft) tall giant Ferris wheel built above the Yongle Bridge (formerly Chihai Bridge), over the Hai River in Tianjin, China. It is the only Ferris wheel in the world to have been constructed over a bridge.

Construction started in 2007, with completion of the main body on 18 December 2007, and the wheel opened to the public on 7 April 2008. At the time of completion, only the 135 m (443 ft) London Eye, 160 m (520 ft) Star of Nanchang, and 165 m (541 ft) Singapore Flyer were taller.

Tianjin Eye is one of four 120 m Ferris wheels in China, the other three being Changsha Ferris Wheel (completed 2004), Suzhou Ferris Wheel (completed 2009), and Zhengzhou Ferris Wheel (completed 2003). The only Chinese Ferris wheel with a greater height is the 160 m (520 ft) Star of Nanchang, which opened in 2006. The 208 m (682 ft) Beijing Great Wheel, under construction since 2007 and originally planned to open in 2008, has been delayed until 2010. Tianjin Eye is electrically powered and has 48 passenger capsules, each able to carry 8 passengers, and takes 30 minutes to complete a rotation, giving a maximum capacity of 768 passengers per hour.

Above is a stamp issue by Austria in 1966 to commemorate the 200th Anniversary of the Ferris Wheel.

The Historic Center of Macau

2011-05-28T06:42:00.000-07:00

The Historic Center of Macau is a collection of over twenty locations that witness the unique assimilation and co-existence of Chinese and Portuguese cultures in Macau, a former Portuguese colony. It represents the The Historic Center of Macau architectural legacies of the city's cultural heritage, including monuments such as urban squares, streets-capes, churches and temples.

In 2005 the Historic Center of Macau was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List, making it the 31st designated World Heritage site in China. It was described by UNESCO as: "with its historic street, residential, religious and public Portuguese and Chinese buildings, the historic centre of Macao provides a unique testimony to the meeting of aesthetic, cultural, architectural and technological influences from East and West," and "...it bears witness to one of the earliest and longest-lasting encounters between China and the West, based on the vibrancy of international trade."

Most of the items (buildings) are owned by the Macau Special Administrative Region(SAR) and managed by various departments or authority. Cultural Institute of the SAR Government manages the Mandarin's House, the Ruins of St. Paul's, the Section of the Old Wall, Mount Fortress and Guia Fortress (includes the Lighthouse and Chapel).

Leal Senado Building is managed by the Provisional Municipal Council of Macao while the two government-owned temples, A-Ma Temple and Na Tcha Temple are managed by the Board of A-Ma Temple Charity Association and Management Board of Na Tcha Temple respectively. The Moorish Barracks is managed by the Macao Harbour Administration Building. The rest of the items are owned and managed by the respective institutions. St. Joseph's Seminary Building and Church is owned by St. Joseph's Seminary and managed by the Catholic Diocese of Macao. The Holy House of Mercy Building is owned and managed by Holy House of Mercy Charitable Foundation. Dom Pedro V Theatre is owned and managed by the Management Board of Dom Pedro V Theatre.

Beijing's Summer Palace

2011-05-27T06:30:00.000-07:00

The Summer Palace literally means "Gardens of Nurtured Harmony" is a palace in Beijing, China. The Summer Palace is mainly dominated by Longevity Hill (60 meters high) and the Kunming Lake. It covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometers, three quarters of which is water. The central Kunming Lake covering 2.2 square kilometers was entirely man made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill. In the Summer Palace, one finds a variety of palaces, gardens, and other classical-style architectural structures.

The Summer Palace started out life as the Garden of Clear Ripples in 1750 (Reign Year 15 of Qianlong Emperor). Artisans reproduced the garden architecture styles of various palaces in China. Kunming Lake was created by extending an existing body of water to imitate the West Lake in Hangzhou. The palace complex suffered two major attacks—during the Anglo-French allied invasion of 1860 (with the Old Summer Palace also ransacked at the same time), and during the Boxer Rebellion, in an attack by the eight allied powers in 1900. The garden survived and was rebuilt in 1886 and 1902. In 1888, it was given the current name, Yihe Yuan. It served as a summer resort for Empress Dowager Cixi, who diverted 30 million taels of silver, said to be originally designated for the Chinese navy (Beiyang Fleet), into the reconstruction and enlargement of the Summer Palace.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value." It is a popular tourist destination but also serves as a recreational park.

The Durbar Square in Kathmandu

2011-05-26T00:56:00.000-07:00

Kathmandu Durbar Square is the plaza opposite the old royal palace in the three main cities in the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal: Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur. The square is filled with temples, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Durbar square is surrounded by spectacular architecture and vividly showcases the skills of the Newari artists and craftsmen over several centuries. The royal palace was originally situated at Dattaraya square and was only later moved to the Durbar square location.

The Kathmandu Durbar Square holds the palaces of the Malla and Shah kings who ruled over the city. Along with these palaces, the square also surrounds quadrangles revealing courtyards and temples. The square is presently known as Hanuman Dhoka, a name derived from the statue of Hanuman, the monkey devotee of Lord Ram, near the entrance of the palace. The preference for the construction of royal palaces at this site dates back to as early as the Licchavi period in the third century. Even though the present palaces and temples have undergone repeated and extensive renovations and nothing physical remains from that period, names like Gunapo and Gupo, which are the names referred to the palaces in the square in early scriptures, imply that the palaces were built by Gunakamadev, a king ruling late in the tenth century.

When Kathmandu City became independent under the rule of King Ratna Malla (1484-1520) the palaces in the square became the royal palaces for its Malla kings. When Prithvi Narayan Shah invaded the Kathmandu Valley in 1769, he also favored the Kathmandu Durbar Square for his palace. Other subsequent Shah kings continued to rule from the square until 1896 when they moved to the Narayan Hiti Palace. However, the square is still the center of important royal events like the coronation of King Birendra Bir Bikram Shah in 1975 and King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah in 2001.

Japan's Kiyomizu-dera

2011-05-21T09:39:00.000-07:00

Kiyomizu-dera, officially Otowa-san Kiyomizu-dera is an independent Buddhist temple in eastern Kyoto. The temple is part of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto (Kyoto, Uji and Otsu Cities) UNESCO World Heritage site. (It should not be confused with Kiyomizu-dera in Yasugi, Shimane, which is part of the 33-temple route of the Chūgoku 33 Kannon Pilgrimage through western Japan.)

Kiyomizu-dera was founded in the early Heian period. The temple dates back to 798, and its present buildings were constructed in 1633, during a restoration ordered by the Tokugawa Iemitsu. There is not a single nail used in the entire structure. It takes its name from the waterfall within the complex, which runs off the nearby hills. Kiyomizu means clear water, or pure water. It was originally affiliated with the old and influential Hossō sect dating from Nara times. However, in 1965 it severed that affiliation, and its present custodians call themselves members of the "Kitahossō" sect.

The main hall has a large veranda, supported by tall pillars, that juts out over the hillside and offers impressive views of the city. Large verandas and main halls were constructed at many popular sites during the Edo period to accommodate large numbers of pilgrims. The popular expression "to jump off the stage at Kiyomizu" is the Japanese equivalent of the English expression "to take the plunge". This refers to an Edo period tradition that held that, if one were to survive a 13m jump from the stage, one's wish would be granted. Two hundred thirty-four jumps were recorded in the Edo period and, of those, 85.4% survived. The practice is now prohibited.

Beneath the main hall is the Otowa waterfall, where three channels of water fall into a pond. Visitors can catch and drink the water, which is believed to have therapeutic properties. Drinking the water of the three streams is said to confer wisdom, health, and longevity. However, some Japanese believe that you must choose only two; if you are greedy and drink from all three, you invite misfortune upon yourself. The temple complex includes several other shrines, among them the Jishu Shrine, dedicated to Ōkuninushi, a god of love and "good matches". Jishu Shrine possesses a pair of "love stones" placed 6 meters/20 feet apart, which lonely visitors can try to walk between with their eyes closed. Success in reaching the other stone with their eyes closed implies that the pilgrim will find love, or true love. One can be assisted in the crossing, but this is taken to mean that a go-between will be needed. The person's romantic interest can assist them as well.

The complex also offers various talismans, incense, and omikuji (paper fortunes). The site is particularly popular during festivals (especially at New Year's and during obon in the summer) when additional booths fill the grounds selling traditional holiday foodstuffs and souvenirs to throngs of visitors. In 2007, Kiyomizu-dera was one of 21 finalists for the New Seven Wonders of the World. However, it was not picked as one of the seven winning sites.

South Korea's Changdeokgung Palace

2011-05-20T09:28:00.000-07:00

Changdeokgung, also known as Changdeokgung Palace or Changdeok Palace, is set within a large park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty. Because of its location east of Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeokgung, with Changgyeonggung, is also referred to as the East Palace. The literal meaning of Changdeokgung is "Palace of Prospering Virtue".

Changdeokgung was the most favored palace of many princes of the Joseon Dynasty and retained many elements dating from the Three Kingdoms of Korea period that were not incorporated in the more contemporary Gyeongbokgung. One such element is the fact that the buildings of Changdeokgung blend with the topography of the site instead of imposing upon nature. Changdeokgung, like the other Five Grand Palaces in Seoul, was heavily damaged during the Japanese occupation of Korea. Currently, only 30% of the Palace structures remain.

Changdeokgung was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. The UNESCO committee inscribing the site stated the place was an "outstanding example of Far Eastern palace architecture and garden design" being exceptional because the buildings are "integrated into and harmonized with the natural setting" and adapted "to the topography and retaining indigenous tree cover."

The Historic Town of Vigan

2011-05-19T00:36:00.000-07:00

The City of Vigan is a 5th class city in the province of Ilocos Sur, Philippines. It is the capital of the Province of Ilocos Sur. The city is located on the western coast of the large island of Luzon, facing the South China Sea.

It is a World Heritage Site in that it is one of numerous Hispanic towns in the Philippines, and is well-known for its cobblestone streets, and a unique architecture that fuses Philippine building design, and construction with colonial European architecture. According to the latest Philippines census, it has a population of 47,246 people in 9,193 households. Former Philippine president Elpidio Quirino, the 6th president of the Philippines, is born in Vigan, at the current location of the Provincial Jail (his father was a warden); and resided in the Syquia Mansion.

Vigan is an island which is separated from the mainland by three bodies of water: the Abra River, the Mestizo River, and the Govantes River. The city is unique in the Philippines because it is one of many extensive surviving Philippine historic cities, dating back to the 16th century.

Vigan was a coastal trading post long before the Spaniards arrived; Chinese traders sailing from the South China Sea came to Isla de Vigan (Island of Vigan) via the Mestizo River that surrounded the island. On board their ships were sea-faring merchants that came to trade goods from other Asian kingdoms in exchange for gold, beeswax, and other mountain products brought by the indigenous peoples from the Cordilleras region. In the book The Philippine Island (Vol. III, p. 276, Blair and Robertson) two letters from Governor General Guido de Lavezaris to King Philip II of Spain mention: "It seemed best to send Captain Juan de Salcedo with 70 or 80 soldiers to explore the coast of Los Ilocano on the shores of the river called Bigan." The Spaniards marched north from Manila on May 20, 1572 and arrived in Vigan on June 12, 1572.

Thus, after the successful expedition and the exploration of the North, Juan de Salcedo founded "Villa Fernandina de Vigan" in honor of King Philip II’s son, Prince Ferdinand, who died at the tender age of four. From Vigan, Salcedo rounded the tip of Luzon and proceeded to pacify Camarines, Albay, and Catanduanes.

As a reward for his services to the King of Spain, Salcedo was awarded the old province of Ilocos which consisted of the modern provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Abra, La Union and a part of Mountain Province as his hacienda (estate), and was accorded the title of "Justicia Mayor de esta Provincia de Ylocos" (Province Mayor of Ilocos). In 1576, Salcedo returned to the capital of his encomienda (trusteeship), Vigan, bringing with him his soldiers, and some Augustinian missionaries to pioneer the evangelization of the Ilocos region. He established a Spanish city for the purpose of controlling the neighboring country.

Governor General Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas, in his Account of encomienda dated in Manila on May 31, 1591 states: "The town of Vigan called Villa Fernandina consisted of Spanish settlers; a priest; a Justice Alcalde Mayor (Governor); and a Deputy. The King collects 800 tributes (equivalent to 3,200 subjects)." During this period, Vigan was composed of 19 barrios (districts). Between 1645 to 1660, Vigan was divided into 21 Cavezas de Barrios (Town Mayors) as mentioned in the Libro de Casamiento (Book of Marriage); from the records of the parish house of Vigan found in its Archives. Separated from the indigenous population; the Chinese migrants were residents in a neighborhood called pariancillo, Los Sangleyes del parian (The Sangleyes of Parian); and the Spanish settlers were residents in a town called Los Españoles de la Villa (The Town of the Spaniards).

The Paoay Church of Ilocos Norte

2011-05-10T00:30:00.000-07:00

Paoay Church (also known as the St. Augustine Church in Paoay) is a historical church located in Paoay, Ilocos Norte. During the Philippine Revolution in 1898, its coral stone bell tower was used by the Katipuneros as an observation post. Paoay Church is part of the UNESCO World Heritage List. It currently is a property of the Diocese of Laoag, Ilocos Norte.

Construction of Paoay Church was started by the Augustinian friars in 1694. It was completed in 1894 led by Fr. Antonio Estavillo and was re-dedicated in 1894.

A three-storey coral stone bell tower stands a few meters away from the church. The bell tower served as an observation post in 1896 for the Katipuneros during the Philippine revolution against the Spaniards, and again by the Filipino guerillas during the Japanese occupation in World War II. According to historians, the bell tower also served as a status symbol for the locals. The bell would ring more loudly and more times during the wedding of a prominent clan that it would during the wedding of the poor.

Portions of the church was damaged during the earthquakes in 1865 and 1885. During an excavation inside the church in 2000, a prehistoric human skeleton and fragmented ceramics were discovered and are now in display at the National Museum.

The Church is a unique combination of Gothic, Baroque and Oriental designs. Its facade reveals Gothic affinity, its gables show Chinese elements, while the niches topping the walls suggest Javanese influence (reminiscent of the famous Boroboudur Temple). Known as the “Earthquake Baroque” church in the Philippines, Paoay church was built of baked bricks, coral rocks, salbot (tree sap) and lumber, and has 24 carved massive buttresses for support. It is an architectural solution to the area's challenging, natural setting. Both sides of the nave are lined with the most voluminous stone buttresses seen around the islands. Large coral stones were used for the lower level while bricks were used for the upper levels of the church. The walls are 1.67 meters thick made of the same materials. Its bell tower, which is detached from its main building, is made of coral stone. It stands a safe distance away to spare the sanctuary in case of collapse. Originally, the church roof was thatched; and it is conjectured so that buttresses not only support walls but give roof access during fire and typhoon.

The rectangular facade of the church is supported by four pillasters which extend from the first to the second level outlining the arched doorway. Huge volutes or buttresses and low-relief lines are found on each side of the facade.

In Fr. Pedro Galende's book, he described the massiveness of the structure is balanced by its grace and fluidity. The church adapts the pyramidal design of the baroque style. Its details are inspired from by seal of Saint Agustine, the emblem of the king of Spain, the logo of the Pope, the “init-tao” or the sun god, and stylized Chinese clouds.

Colorano National Anthem Adopted 50th Anniversary Cover

2011-05-01T02:48:00.000-07:00

Colorano full color “silk” cachet: e1151 #2 National Anthem Adopted 50th Anniversary is the Official ASDA Cover. The John Hoban President Continental Congress stamp is affixed and tied to the cover with a pictorial cancel: "200th Anniversary Surrender at Yorktown - 50th Anniversary National Anthem Adopted - National Postage Stamp Show ASDA Station New York Coliseum. A second pictorial cancel is added: "Historic Anniversaries National Postage Stamp Show N.Y. Coliseum". The silk cachet depicts Francis Scott Key witnessing the bombing of Fort Mchenry - the inspiration for the National Anthem of the United States of America. The cachet has a brilliant full color, the border of gold, the texture, the feel and look of the “silk”.

The envelope above was issued on November 19, 1981.

My Favorite Cebuano Classical Pianists

2011-04-16T22:22:00.000-07:00

3. Aima Maria Labra-Makk. I first met this world renowned Austria-based Cebuana pianist and educator four years ago when she had a solo concert presented by the Arts Council of Cebu and St. Theresas' College, where she is an alumni. A few days before I attended the concert, I had a chance encounter with her in an elevator at Club Ultima. I ask her a question in English, but she answered fluently in Cebuano that she was here for the STC reunion and for the concert. I told her that my wife was also an STC alumni and will be joining in some of this events. The CD collector in me urged to inquire if she had some with her, and if they were selling discs at her concert. "No. I didn't bring any", she answered smiling. My regret is that I did not ask any autograph or had myself pictured with her. She has the most impeccable rendition of Jeno Takacs' works especially the Toccata, in fact, she is the only artist to record the complete discography of the Austrian composer in CD.

2. Rudolf Golez- I first met this Cebuano pianist (although I already heard of him before) at the 80th birthday party of Cardinal Vidal hosted by the Leo and Norma Limliu at the Casino Espanol. During this event, Golez offered the good cardinal a mini solo concert featuring the works of composers in their celebratory moments. These composers include Dohnanyi, Strauss, Schubert, Liszt and Chopin. He played Chopin's Etudes nos. 3 (my personal favorite) and 12 and Etude no. 4 (Golez' personal favorite). His rendition of Liszt Sonnet of Petrarch #204 was impeccable and uplifting. The poetry reading prior to the performance further intensified our appreciation for this difficult rendition. My favorite piece was his interpretation of "Franz Liszt Legend of St. Francis Walking on the Waters". I have the complete works of Liszt on my iPod by world renowned Liszt impresario- and performer Stephen Hough, and I swear Golez' rendition was much better. The crescendo-decrescendo octaves by the alternating left and right hand simulating the waves was spine tingling. The rendition surely touched everyone's innermost being. I had the opportunity to exchange pleasantries with him during this event. I told him I was also a pianist. Classical? he asked.. I said yes...Classical music was my first love and I'll continue to play it as long as I live. He also was kind enough to sign a CD which was sold at the concert. "Happy Listening....", it said..

1. Ingrid Sala Santa Maria- I first met this beautiful lady pianist when I was a teenager studying piano at their Battig Piano School in Lahug, Cebu which was adjacent to my my school, UP high. During this time, I must admit I had a crush on her. Her skin was flawless and so was her playing; she inspired me to improve on my piano playing. My piano teacher at Battig was Mrs. Pala. I can't remember now if I was under Mrs. Montenegro, but I always seem to remember her. In one of my piano recitals in the 1980's, I played Dmitri Shostakovich's Golden Age Ballet polka which was a highly harmonically dissonant piece. I was very nervous because Ms. Ingrid Sala was in the audience. I thought I made several mistakes but no one seemed to notice. My dissatisfaction evaporated when I saw her smiling and clapping.

I've seen her several times perform in Cebu. It is her advocacy to instill within the youth the love for classical music. Performing all over the country without compensation and traveling with pedagogue and educator, Maestro Reynaldo Reyes in their "Romantic Concerto Piano Journey" series. Together, with their music, they made our country a better place, culturally.

The 2011 PPO Season Concert VIII: Poom and Mahler I

2011-04-16T17:02:00.000-07:00

For the closing concert of the 28th concert season of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) theater, Maestro Olivier Ochanine and the orchestra welcome pianist Poom Prommachart, 1st Prize winner in the 2010 Isidore Bajik International Piano Competition to perform Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto. Also on the programme, which rounds up Maestro Ochanine inaugural season with the orchestra, the First symphony of Gustav Mahler will be performed. Mahler was nearly thirty years old by the time he finished his very first symphony, and the work shows musical maturity and expertise at orchestration quite well. This work is a rousing finale for the end of the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra season.

Gustav Mahler (7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was a late-Romantic Austrian-Bohemian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer, he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century. While in his lifetime his status as a conductor was established beyond question, his own music gained wide popularity only after periods of relative neglect which included a ban on its performance in much of Europe during the Nazi era. After 1945 the music was discovered and championed by a new generation of listeners; Mahler then became one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers, a position he has sustained into the 21st century.

The stamp above features Gustav Mahler issued by Austria in 2010.

Spyros Samaras, Olympic Hymn Composer

2011-04-11T09:10:00.000-07:00

Spyridon-Filiskos Samaras (also Spyros / Spiro Samara) (17 November/29 November 1861 Corfu – 25 March/17 April 1917 Athens) was a Greek composer particularly admired for his operas who was part of the generation of composers that heralded the works of Giacomo Puccini. His compositions were praised worldwide during his lifetime and he is arguably the most internationally lauded Greek composer before Dimitri Mitropoulos.

As a young man Samaras studied with Spyridon Xyndas in Corfu. From 1875-1882 he studied at the Athens Conservatory with Federico Bolognini, Angelo Mascheroni and Enrico Stancampiano. His first opera Torpillae (now lost) premiered in Athens in 1879. He went to Paris in 1882 to study at the Paris Conservatoire and became a favorite of Jules Massenet. His other instructors included Léo Delibes, Théodore Dubois, and Charles Gounod. He worked successfully as a composer in Paris for three years and then migrated to Italy in 1885.

Samaras quickly became an important figure in the opera scene in Italy. His opera Flora mirabilis première in Milan in 1886 and in 1888 Medgé was successfully staged at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome with French opera star Emma Calvé in the title role. Samaras became closely associated with Edoardo Sonzogno, a Milanese publisher. Sonzogno founded the Teatro Lirico Internazionale and chose Samaras' La martire for the theater's opening on 22 September 1894. The opera had premiered previously that year in Naples and is based on a libretto by Luigi Illica with many naturalistic elements, which gave space to Samaras musical personality for an equal treatment.

Samaras is also known for composing the Olympic Anthem, the words of which were contributed by Kostis Palamas. The Anthem was first performed during the opening ceremony of the 1896 Summer Olympics, the first modern Olympic Games. It was declared the official anthem of the Olympic movement by the International Olympic Committee in 1958 and has been used at every Olympic opening ceremony since the 1960 Winter Olympics.

The stamp above of Olympic hymn composer, Spyros Samaras was issued by Greece on 2011.

The road to Kathmandu- a road less travelled

2011-04-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

I love traveling to exotic places, and for someone from Southeast Asia, Nepal definitely fits the bill. As a young boy, I was fascinated by this mountainous, landlocked kingdom with a weird-shaped flag, and dreamt that someday I'll be able to visit the place- my dream came true. I pity that Nepal is unable to take off in tourism. They surely can be great tourist destination if the government will only strengthen their efforts by improving infrastructure and lessening corruption. There is only the Department of Roads in Nepal because there are only roads-- no highways exist. The Nepalese are a beautiful and friendly people. My hope is for their Tourism Year 2011 to be a success.

Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a country in South Asia located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi) and a population of approximately 30 million, Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass and the 41st most populous country. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the country's largest metropolis. Nepal has a rich geography. The mountainous north has eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest, called Sagarmatha in Nepali. It contains more than 240 peaks over 20,000 ft (6,096 m) above sea level. The fertile and humid south is heavily urbanized.

By some measures, Hinduism is practised by a larger majority of people in Nepal than in any other nation. Buddhism, though a minority faith in the country, is linked historically with Nepal. Many Nepali do not distinguish between Hinduism and Buddhism and follow both religious traditions. There are 3 different buddhist traditions: Himalayan Buddhism, Buddhism of Kathmandu Valley (mostly Mahayana and Vajrayana), and also the Theravada Buddhism. Their type of Buddhism is similar to the Sri Lankan Buddhism.

A monarchy throughout most of its history, Nepal was ruled by the Shah dynasty of kings from 1768, when Prithvi Narayan Shah unified its many small kingdoms. In 2006, however, a decade-long Civil War by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) along with several weeks of mass protests by all major political parties of Nepal culminated in a peace accord, and the ensuing elections for the constituent assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of the abdication of the last Nepali monarch Gyanendra Shah and the establishment of a federal democratic republic in 28 May 2008. The first President of Nepal, Ram Baran Yadav, was sworn in on 23 July 2008.

On 1 June 2001, there was a massacre in the royal palace. King Birendra, Queen Aiswarya, Crown Prince Dipendra and seven other members of the royal family were killed. Dipendra was accused of patricide and of committing suicide thereafter. This outburst was alleged to have been Dipendra's response to his parents' refusal to accept his choice of wife. Nevertheless there are speculation and doubts among Nepalese citizens about who was responsible.

The Stamp Shops of Bangkok, Thailand

2011-04-01T01:15:00.000-07:00

Thailand, the darling of tourism in Asia with over 15 million visitors yearly, surely knows how to tickle the fancy of its visitors. Anything the tourists wants, they can surely offer. Where can one see stamp shops inside a mall- only in Bangkok. In fact I was able to see two of these shops in the four malls I visited. These were located in the Pratunam district- the MBK Mall and the Siam Discovery Mall. The small but compact stamp shop of MBK mall was located at the first floor. I was here seven years ago and I was glad and relieved that it was still there after all these years. It has all the issued Thai stamps. Here, I met an Australian stamp collector specializing stamps from Thailand and Nepal. I was able to purchase the World Congress of Gastroenterology stamp and first day cover issued in 2002 and the block featuring a Thai violinist. At the fourth level of the Siam Discovery Mall, one can seen the House of Stamps. They had several stamps from other countries. I was able to obtain the Classic Album Covers sheet and some latin music stamps.

Flag, Stamp, Puzzle and Anthem of Nepal

2011-04-01T00:50:00.000-07:00

There are no stamp shops in Nepal- this is what I learned in my 3 day stay in this mountain kingdom. There are many souvenir shops selling stamps but not a dedicated stamp store. I saw the anthem stamp I was looking for Durbar market but unfortunately it was not mint so I did not buy it. However, I was able to buy native Nepalese stuff like the meditation bowl- which emits a resonant tone when properly "stimulated", the "Lucky wheel" and the "shape-shifting" meta lwire puzzle. The seller claimed it can be formed into more than 60 shapes, but I was only able to make half of the number. Nepal is a beautiful country...the mountain flight to Everest alone was worth the visit.

"Sayaun Thunga Phool Ka" ("Made of Hundreds of Flowers") is the national anthem of Nepal. It was officially declared as the national anthem of Nepal on August 3, 2007 amid a ceremony held at the conference hall of National Planning Commission, inside the Singha Durbar, by the speaker of the interim parliament, Mr. Subash Chandra Nemwang. The lyrics of the National Anthem were written by the poet Pradeep Kumar Rai, alias Byakul Maila. The music is composed by Amber Gurung. The national anthem is simply worded, praising Nepalese sovereignty, unity, courage, pride, scenic beauty, progress, peace, cultural and biological diversity.

After the unanimous decision on May 19, 2006 by the House of Representatives (Pratinidhi Sabha) of the Kingdom of Nepal, the old national anthem was suspended. The National Anthem Selection Task Team (NASTT) on 30 November 2006, selected poet Byakul Maila's (real name: Pradeep Kumar Rai) song as the new national anthem of Nepal. The new national anthem was selected from a total of 1272 submissions made from across the country. It was officially approved on 20 April 2007. On August 3, 2007, Sayaun Thunga Phool Ka was officially declared as Nepal's national anthem by the House of Representatives.

"Shree man gambhira" was the national anthem of Nepal till May 19, 2006, when the century-old national anthem was suspended by the House of Representatives. It was adopted in 1962, as a homage to the ruler of Nepal and the country's national anthem. In English it may be named "May Glory Crown You, Courageous Sovereign" or "May Glory Crown Our Illustrious Sovereign." The music was composed by Bakhat Bahadur Budhapirthi in 1899 (Grandfather of musician Louis Banks or Dambar Bahadur Budaprithi), and the lyrics were written by Chakra Pani Chalise in 1924. After the April movement for democracy, The anthem was abolished as it was widely accused of being just a tune for monarchical glorification instead of representing the Nation as a whole.

The Menara KL and other Observation Towers on Stamps

2011-03-25T06:12:00.000-07:00

I have never visited the Tower of Juche, nor am I planning to visit the place. I also have no desire to cross the demilitarized zone between South Korea and North Korea, although I have contemplated the thought when I was there twice. But this tower interest me, because North Korea issued a stamp in the nineties with its flag and national anthem score featured on it. Various attempts to avail of this stamp was an exercise in futility. Until now, I still don't have the stamp, so I you have it, please email me or give me a call.

I have however recently visited four observation Towers- the Coit Tower in San Francisco, California, the Menara Tower in Kuala Lumpur, the Macau Tower in China and the N Seoul Tower in South Korea. The Coit Tower is located in Pioneer Hill in San Francisco, California and built in 1933 at the bequest of socialite Lilly Hitchcock Coit. The art deco tower, made of unpainted reinforced concrete, was designed by architects Arthur Brown, Jr. and Henry Howard, with murals by 26 different artists and numerous assistants. Although it is also a monument to honor the firefighters of San Francisco, particularly the Knickerbocker Engine Company Number 5, the tower was not designed to resemble a fire hose nozzle.

The Kuala Lumpur Tower (officially known as Menara Kuala Lumpur; referred later as KL Tower) is a tall tower located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It took us one full minute to go from bottom to top in an elevator. Its construction was finished in 1995 and is used for communication purposes. It has an antenna that reaches 421 m (1,381 ft), which currently makes it the second tallest freestanding tower in the world. The roof of the pod is at 335 m (1,099 ft). The rest of the tower below has a stairwell and an elevator to reach the upper area, which also contains a revolving restaurant, providing diners a panoramic view of the city. Races are organized yearly where participants race up the stairs to the top. The tower also acts as the Islamic falak observatory to observe the crescent moon which marks the beginning of Muslim month of Ramadhan, Syawal, and Zulhijjah, to celebrate fasting month of Ramadhan, Hari Raya Aidilfitri and Aidiladha. The tower is the landmark of Kuala Lumpur with nearby Petronas Towers.

The Macau Tower, also known as Macau Sky Tower, is a tower located in the former Portuguese colony of Macau, now a Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. The tower measures 338 m (1,109 ft) in height from ground level to the highest point. An observation deck with panoramic views, restaurants, theaters, shopping malls and the Skywalk X, a thrilling walking tour around the outer rim. It offers the best view of Macau and in recent years has been used for a variety of adventurous activities. At 233 meters, the Macau Tower's tethered "skyjump" and Bungee jump by world renowned AJ Hackett from the tower's outer rim, is the second highest commercial bungee jump in the world, after Vegas' Stratosphere skyjump at 260 meters . The tower was created by the architecture firm of Craig Craig Moller. The tower is one of the members of the World Federation of Great Towers. Besides being used for observation and entertainment, the tower is also used for telecommunications and broadcasting.

N Seoul Tower is a communication and observation tower located in Namsan Mountain, central Seoul, South Korea. Built in 1969, and opened to the public in 1980, the tower has been a symbol of Seoul and measures 236.7 m (777 ft) in height (from the base) and tops out at 479.7 m (1,574 ft) above sea level. It has also been known as the Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower. After the tower's original owner merged with the CJ Corporation, it was renamed the N Seoul Tower (official name CJ Seoul Tower). Many visitors ride the Namsan cable car up the mountain, and then walk to the tower. The tower features a gift shop and restaurants on the ground floor. Visitors may go up the tower for a fee. There are four observation decks (the 4th observation deck, which is the revolving restaurant, rotates at a rate of one revolution every 48 minutes), as well as gift shops and two restaurants. Most of the city of Seoul can be seen from the top. Close to N Seoul Tower is a second lattice transmission tower.

The miniature sheet above features the Menara Kuala Lumpur Tower issued in 1996.

The National Anthem of Malaysia

2011-03-20T05:17:00.000-07:00

Before independence in 1957, each of the (then) eleven states of Malaysia had their own anthem (which they have retained to this day), but there was no unifying anthem for the whole country. When independence was approaching, Tunku Abdul Rahman, then the Chief Minister and Minister for Home Affairs (later Malaysia's first prime minister), led a committee to select a new anthem. Hundreds were recieved, but none were deemed suitable. Finally, the anthem for the Malaysian state of Perak was considered, and the melody, due to its "traditional flavour" was selected to be the melody for the new anthem.

In 1888 the Sultan of Perak was invited by Queen Victoria as a guest. When the Sultan's aide was asked what the anthem of Perak was, so that it could be played upon his formal arrival, the aide, not wanting to be embarrassed by saying that Perak did not have an anthem, perhaps giving the impression that his country was "backwards", proceeded to hum a favourite tune of his from the Seychelles, which is believed to have been composed by Pierre Jean Beranger. It was, therefore, from that moment on, the tune for the state anthem of Perak (and later Malaysia).

After an Indonesian opera performed it in Singapore (at the time, part of Malaysia), the tune became popular throughout all of Malaysia in the 1920s and 1930s as the love song "Terang Bulan" (Moonlight).Once the melody was selected, new lyrics had to be written for it. The panel of judges charged with selecting a new anthem wrote the lyrics, with Tunku Abdul Rahman leading the group. The anthem was entitled "Negara Ku" (My Country).

The stamp above features Jean Beranger, the anthem composer. Below is Abdul Rahman, the lyricist.

Malagasy Republic Anthem on Maximum Card

2011-03-03T07:23:00.000-08:00

The first anthem of the Malagasy Republic (Madagascar), located in a book of national anthems from 1890, was used while Madagascar was a kingdom (known as Imerina), until the French protectorate began in 1896. The anthem mentions Queen Ranavalona; Ranavalona III was the last Queen of Madagascar, ruling from 1883 until the French colony was established (before her, from 1868-1883, was Ranavalona II); it is presumed that, if the anthem predates the rule of Ranavalona II and III, that the lyrics may have been altered to mention the current ruler's name (in much the same fashion as the Austro-Hungarian anthem was).

1. Andriamanitra ô!
Tahionao ny Mpanjakanay,
Dia Ranavalona:
Ho ela velona
Hifaly aminao.

2. Mahery Hianao
Dia aoka ho aminy anie
Ny hasoavanao,
Hampandroso any
Ny hamarinana.

3. Ampitoero nao
Ny fanjakan’ny taniny
Izay natolotrao
Ho tsara entiny
Izay vahoakany.

The music of the present national anthem of Madagascar was composed by Norbert Raharisoa, a music teacher and professor. The words were written by Pasteur Rahajason, a priest. It was first performed in the public when Madagascar was declared an autonomous republic within the Union Francaise. The parliament officially adopted the anthem on April 27,1959. Therefore Madagascar already had a national anthem when it achieved full independence on 26th June 1960.

Levi Celerio on Stamps

2011-03-03T03:19:00.000-08:00

Levi Celerio was a Filipino composer and lyricist, born on April 30, 1910 in Tondo, Manila, Philippines. He received a free education to the Academy of Music in Manila and became the youngest affiliate of the Manila Symphony Orchestra. He was a creative songwriter, with more than 4,000 songs to his acclaim including Filipino folk, Christmas, and love songs that are popular pieces, which many consider to be immortal. Famous for being a lyricist, his songs treasure life; express nationalistic sentiments and complete grand philosophies. At one instance or another, no Filipino can miss the song or lyrics of Levi's Christmas songs namely Pasko na Naman, Ang Pasko ay Sumapit, and Misa de Gallo. He is probably best recognized for being a leaf-player, an achievement where he was place into the Guinness Book of World Records.

The stamp above features the composer Levi Celerio playing the violin. The stamp is one in a set of 4 honoring Filipino National Artists issued on November 11, 2010.

2011-03-01T03:50:00.000-08:00

An outstanding public servant and World War II hero, Roque Ablan was born on August 9, 1906 in Laoag, Ilocos Norte to Victor Ablan and Raymunda Blanco. He obtained his Bachelor of Philosophy degree in 1929 and Bachelor of Laws degree in 1930 from the University of the Philippines. That same year, he took the bar examinations, placing 9th among the successful examinees.

As a young lawyer, Ablan dedicated himself to helping the poor. In 1937 at age 31 he was elected governor of Ilocos Norte making him the youngest provincial executive of his time. The establishment of Ilocos Norte Provincial Hospital and the Philippine Normal School in Laoag were among his outstanding achievements. He also caused the beautification of the provincial capital, the revival of rural credit associations, and the organization of producers' cooperatives. Admired by the people, he was re-elected in 1941.

When World War II broke out, Ablan refused to cooperate with the Japanese. He left the provincial capitol in Laoag and transferred the seat of government to a remote barrio near the boundary of Ilocos Norte and Apayao. He contacted and enlisted the support of government officials, prominent citizens, and trainees and organized a guerrilla unit. In mid-January 1942, together with Lt. Feliciano Madamba, he organized the Ablan-Madamba Guerrilla Group of Northern Luzon. This group was involved in various skirmishes against the Japanese among them was a successful ambush of Japanese forces at Pampanniki, Solsona on 08 November 1942.

The Ablan-Madamba group was recognized by General Douglas MacArthur's Southwest Pacific Area Command which sent the submarine USS Stingray to contact Ablan and deliver arms and supplies for his resistance movement in August 1944.

The Ablan-Madamba guerrillas were a scourge of the Japanese who urged him to surrender and collaborate with them. Ablan was offered governorship of Ilocos Norte but he refused. .

Ablan was last seen following the battle of Bumitalag, Piddig on 5 February 1943. His heroic deeds have earned for him an honored place in the country's history.

Nick Joaquin on Stamps

2011-03-01T03:38:00.001-08:00

Nick Joaquin was a Filipino writer, historian and journalist, best known for his short stories and novels. He was also one of the National Artists of the Philippines for Literature. After winning a Dominican Order-sponsored nationwide essay competition for La Naval de Manila, the University of Santo Tomas awarded Joaquín an honorary Associate in Arts (A.A.) and a scholarship to St. Albert's College, the Dominican monastery in Hong Kong. However, he dropped out after only a year. Upon his return to the Philippines, he joined the Philippines Free Press, starting as a proofreader. Soon this two-time dropout was being noticed for his poems, stories and plays, as well as his journalism under the pen name Quijano de Manila. His journalism was markedly both intellectual and provocative, an unknown genre in the Philippines at that time, raising the level of reportage in the country. Joaquín deeply admired José Rizal, the national hero of the Philippines. Joaquín paid tribute to Rizal by way of books such as The Storyteller's New Medium - Rizal in Saga, The Complete Poems and Plays of Jose Rizal and A Question of Heroes: Essays in Criticism on Ten Key Figures of Philippine History. He also translated the hero's valedictory poem, "Land That I Love, Farewell!"

Fernando Poe Jr. on Stamps

2011-03-01T03:37:00.000-08:00

Fernando Poe Jr. was a Filipino actor and cultural icon. From the 1950s, Poe played steadfast film heroes who fight for the common man, which won him respect and admiration. He did not complete high school but went on to win numerous awards and prizes as an actor and film director. During the latter part of his career, he ran an unsuccessful bid for President of the Philippines in the 2004 presidential election against the former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. He was honored on May 24, 2006 as Philippine National Artist through Philippine Proclamation No. 1065. In 1965, he shared the lead in The Ravagers, a film depicting the United States and the Philippines working together against Japanese war time occupation. The film is considered one of the most influential Filipino films, and it helped establish Fernando Poe, Jr.'s status as a movie icon. Poe became an award-winning actor and garnered the most best actor awards at the FAMAS. Among the movies that received awards were Mga Alabok ng Lupa (1967), Asedillo (1971), Durugin si Totoy Bato, Umpisahan Mo, Tatapusin Ko (1983), and Muslim Magnum .357 (1987).

Carlos L. Quirino on Stamps

2011-03-01T03:35:00.000-08:00

Carlos L. Quirino was a prominent historian and writer. He is a National Artist for Historical Literature. He was also the first Filipino correspondent for the United Press Institute. Quirino was one of the pioneers of the genre of historical literature in English. He was also renowned for his many biographies of important Filipinos. In particular, he is known for having written one of the earliest biographies in English of Jose Rizal, entitled, The Great Malayan. His books and articles covered and captured many aspects of Philippine history and culture. In 1997, President Fidel V. Ramos added historical literature as a new category in the National Artist Awards and Quirino was its first recipient. His path-breaking books on cartography, Philippine Cartography (1959) and Maps and Views of Old Maynila, are still considered as the best books on the subject. His other books include Quezon, Man of Destiny, Magsaysay of the Philippines, Lives of the Philippine Presidents, The History of Philippine Sugar Industry, Filipinos at War: The Fight for Freedom from Mactan to EDSA. He was the brains behind the monumental Filipiniana Book Guild, a 28-volume project dedicated to publishing classic Philippine books.

Leonor Orosa Goquingco on Stamps

2011-03-01T03:24:00.000-08:00

Leonor Orosa Goquingco is a Filipino national artist in creative dance. She could play the piano, draw, design scenery and costumes, sculpt, act, direct, dance and choreograph. Her pen name was Cristina Luna and she was known as Trailblazer, Mother of Philippine Theater Dance and Dean of Filipino Performing Arts Critics. In 1939, Leonor was the only dancer sent on the first cultural mission to Japan, at the age of 19. She produced Circling the Globe (1939) and Dance Panorama in the same year. She created The Elements in 1940, the first ballet choreographed by a Filipino to commissioned music. She also created Sports during the same year, featuring cheerleaders, a tennis match and a basketball game. The first Philippine folkloric ballet, Trend: Return to the Native, was choreographed by Goquingco in 1941. After the Second World War, she organized the Philippine Ballet and brought the famous Filipino novel, Noli Me Tangere, to life. The Noli Dance Suite consisted of several dances. Maria Clara and the Leper, Salome and Elias, Sisa, Asalto for Maria Clara and The Gossips are some of the dances found in the Noli Dance Suite.

The stamp above features the dancer, Leonora Orosa Goquingco. The stamp is one in a set of 4 honoring Filipino National Artists issued on November 11, 2010.

Fr. Marcelline Jayakody and the Sri Lankan National Anthem

2011-03-01T00:32:00.000-08:00

Fr. Marcelline Jayakody (June 3, 1902─January 15, 1998) was a well-known Sri Lankan Catholic priest, musician, lyricist, author, journalist and patriot, and an exponent of indigenous culture who, according to a former High Court Judge, directed the Catholic Church in Sri Lanka towards the mainstream of national life.

Fr. Jayakody served as the head priest in Duwa in 1939. Duwa is the Passion Play Village in Sri Lanka. A Passion Play is a religious drama of medieval origin dealing with the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Originally, the play used traditional puppets as actors for Duwa Passion play. Jayakody wrote original script for a Passion play influenced by Fr. Jacome Gonsalves and composed new hymns to the traditional "Pasan".

He is the first Catholic priest to win the "Ramon MagsaysayAward" considered the Asian Nobel Prize, (which carried along with it 20,000 US$, a Medal and a Citation) on 31st August, 1983 in Manila, Philippines. Fr. Jayakody also won the international OCIC (Catholic Film Office) and the International UNDA (Radio & Television Homage Awards) as well.

In 1949 Fr. Marcelline Jayakody was invited to train the choir for the song Namo Namo Matha for the 1st Independence commemoration as its composer Ananda Samarakone had gone abroad. Fr. Marcelline Jayakody rose to the occasion, trained the students of the Musaeus College and presented it to be acclaimed by all. There is no doubt that this wonderful performance paved the way to adopt ‘Namo Namo Matha’ as our national anthem.

Above is a stamp of Fr. Marcelline Jayakody playing the violin issued in 2005.

The Coronation Anthem of King Edward VII on Postcard

2011-02-27T05:03:00.001-08:00

Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of the British Dominions and Emperor of India from 22 January 1901 until his death. He was the first British monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, which was renamed the House of Windsor by his son, George V.

He was the eldest son of Queen Victoria and ascended the throne on January 22, 1901 upon Victoria's death. Born in 1841 he had to wait a long time to succeed to the throne. He married Princess Alexandra of Denmark in 1863 who bore him three sons and three daughters.

The coronation was originally scheduled for June 26, 1902, but Edward had to undergo an emergency appendectomy operation, so the coronation was postponed until August 9, 1902.

The postcard above contains the lyrics of King Edward's coronation in 1902.

The Polish National Anthem on a 1969 Scout Post Miniature Sheet

2011-02-26T07:14:00.000-08:00

The Polish national anthem was written in July 1797 in Reggio near Bolonia by Józef Wybicki, one of the organisers of General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski's Polish Army in Italy. The theme of the original poem was a novel idea in the era of the nation state (that is, most European nations were made up of eponymous nationalities), that the nation does not need a territory to be a nation, it only needs a group of people. This idea was a timely one, as Poland had only been partitioned out of existence only two years earlier. Several more times in subsequent Polish history would an independent Polish nation appear then disappear from the map, which could explain why the song resonates with Poles even today. The original poem also mentions several Polish war heroes of the time, as well as heroes of past Polish wars; also Napoleon is mentioned, as the commanding officer of Dąbrowski and as an example to be held up.

The source of the melody is unclear; it is usually ascribed to Michal Kleofas Oginski, but this has not been determined with certainty. It is most likely based on an anonymous folk song, due to the unusual mazurka tempo (which is often played at a faster rate than most anthems); mazurkas originated in Poland and have always been heavily associated with that nation.

Its familiar mazurka melody and its message - a call to join the fight for independence - inspired numerous 19th century patriotic songs and national hymns of the Slavonic nations under foreign rule (some of which would later become Yugoslavia, which could explain the similar melody of the former Yugoslav anthem.) The opening line of the lyrics was also borrowed by Ukraine (which, of course, speaks of the Ukraine not perishing rather than Poland.) In the early years after Poland's revival in 1918, during the debate about the choice of the national anthem, several candidates were considered. On February 28, 1927 the choice of "Dąbrowski's Mazurka" as the national anthem was officially announced.

Nonito Donaire- Boxing's Next Big Thing

2011-02-20T05:01:00.000-08:00

Fernando Montiel was never a bum fighter. In his long and distinguished boxing career, he's never been knocked out. In his native Mexico, he is mentioned at the same breath as Marquez, Morales, Barrera and Chavez, having won three world titles in three different weight classes. His two loses were a split and a majority decision against formidable opponents. After Montiels 2nd round KO courtesy of Nonito's brain concussing left hook to the temple, several of "The Filipino Flash" doubters were silenced , this time turned believers.

Some questioned that he shouldn't be in the Ring's pound for pound list (presently at number 5, Montiel is at number 7) because aside from Vic Darchinyan, whom he floored in the 5th round of their 2007 Bridgeport encounter, he never fought any other elite opponents. His recent knockout victory against the the Armenian Olympian Sodirenko was not enought to impress his critics. But this time around, they were awestruck with his performance over Montiel. They are shouting his name to the top of their lungs and proclaiming him as the "Next Manny Pacquiao".

I met Donaire in more than two occasions when we were in Dallas last year for the Pacquiao-Margarito fight. Contrary to what some fans are saying, I find him to be humble and very approachable. There is not a mean bone in him, no star complex whatsoever. He gladly talks to anyone who comes his way and eagerly have their photo taken with him. Being born in the Philippines but raised in the US, he is often misunderstood by Filipino fans and often comes as arrogant because of the way he walks and talks. But this is just Donaire being himself. Now, he is learning to speak Filipino more frequently. In his recent conquest over Montiel, he greeted and thanked the Vegas fans in Tagalog. He should be speaking his native tongue more often to gain acceptance with the Filipino masses. However, unlike Manny Pacquiao who adores her mother and loves his father even though he abandoned his family when Manny was just a little boy, Donaire is not on speaking terms with his mom and dad. This is mainly due to his family's interference over his marital affairs. Nonito is guilty of loving his wife too much. He should reconcile with his family 'cause "too much love might kill him" and eventually his career.

Nonito is here to stay, hopefully for long. At 28, he still has several fighting years ahead of him. Like the Great Pacman he'll soon be a household name in America and all over the world. Great performance Nonito, until the next fight......

Anton Pann on Stamp and Postal Stationary Envelope

2011-02-17T02:27:00.000-08:00

Anton Pann is generally believed to have authored the music to Deşteaptă-te, române!, Romania's national anthem. His associate Gheorghe Ucenescu is known to have arranged the melody to the lyrics of Andrei Mureşanu, but Pann's direct implication in the creative process was allegedly not confirmed by sources. According to one account, Ucenescu had used a romanza composed by Pann in 1839, in turn complimenting the lyrics of Grigore Alexandrescu. It has also been argued that the music was that of a popular lied (German song), and first published in one of Pann's manele collections. The ethnographic research carried out by Dimitrie Gusti confirmed that the same melody was being sung as a folk song by Southern Dobrujan ethnic Turks in the 1930s.

Mihai Eminescu, one of Romania's most influential poets, made a reference to Pann in his poem Epigonii (1870), which, in its opening verses, traces the development of early literature and the impact of Romanticism. Cited alongside Dimitrie Cantemir, Dimitrie Ţichindeal, Vasile Cârlova, Ienăchiţă Văcărescu, Alexandru Sihleanu, Ion Heliade Rădulescu, Cezar Bolliac and others, Pann is referred to as the son of Pepelea, the witty hero of folk literature, and complimented with the words "as clever as a proverb". During the interwar period, the works of Anton Pann were reflected and complimented in the modernist poetic art of Ion Barbu. Barbu's Nastratin Hogea la Isarlâk uses Pann's main character to tragic effect, depicting, in willing contrast to the proverbial setting, Nastratin's violent self-sacrifice. George Călinescu noted that Pann's "mix of buffoonery and seriousness" present in the works of poet Tudor Arghezi, came "in the line of Anton Pann".

In 1945, Lucian Blaga authored a three-act play named Anton Pann, centered on the poet's Şchei period. A museum of the life and activity of Anton Pann exist in Râmnicu Vâlcea, and, since 1990, a public theater in the same city bears his name.

Shown above is the stamp and postal stationary envelope of anthem composer Anton Pann issued in 1998. Note the special cancel with the image of the composer shown (enlarged below).

The UPAEP Symbols Series 2010- The Anthem Stamp Issuing Countries

2011-02-15T21:56:00.000-08:00

Several countries issued a postage stamp based on the theme of National Symbols, the topic for last years (2010) UPAEP series. Most of the stamps issued depicts, flags, national emblems, plants, animals, etc. Some of the countries which issued their national anthem on stamps and these include Suriname, Brazi l, Cuba, Uruguay, Paraguay and Ecuador.

The Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (UPAEP), based in Montevideo, Uruguay, is an association of postal authorities of following countries: Netherlands Antilles, Argentina, Aruba, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Ecuador, El Salvador, Spain, USA, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Dominican Republic, Surinam, Uruguay, Venezuela.

It was founded in 1911 as a restricted union of the Universal Postal Union. Since 1989, the UPAEP member countries are issuing sets of stamps based on a common theme, which always included the logo of the organization.

The Universal Postal Union (UPU, French: Union postale universelle) is an international organization that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to the worldwide postal system. The UPU contains four bodies consisting of the Congress, the Council of Administration, the Postal Operations Council and the International Bureau. It also oversees two cooperatives including the Telematics and EMS Cooperatives respectively. Each member agrees to the same terms for conducting international postal duties. The UPU’s headquarters are located in Bern, Switzerland.

Shown above are the first day covers of anthem stamps from Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay and Cuba issued in 2010

The UPAEP 2010 Series: The National Anthem of Paraguay

2011-02-12T01:48:00.000-08:00

"Paraguayos, República o muerte!" (Paraguayans, The Republic or Death!) is the National anthem of Paraguay. The words were written by Francisco Esteban Acuña de Figueroa and music composed by Francisco José Debali. The anthem was adopted in 1846 and officially declared in 1934.

Paraguay's anthem is a classic example of a "Latin American epic anthem". The seven verses of the anthem also resemble other nations' anthems of this type, for example, the first three verses of Paraguay's anthem, recalling its history and specific events, is very similar to the theme of Honduras' anthem, whereas the fourth verse which praises the national symbols, and the last three verses, which are a call to patriotism, are common themes in these type of anthems.

Paraguay's second anthem (the first, written solely in the native Guarnaní language, was adopted in 1831), it was adopted in 1846 and was officially declared as the national anthem in 1934 after the final rearrangement of the anthem. The lyricist and composer also created Uruguay's anthem.

The stamp above is part of a set of national symbols which features the lyrics of the Paraguay anthem. (UPAEP symbols series).

The UPAEP Symbols Series 2010- The National Anthem of Ecuador

2011-02-11T19:10:00.000-08:00

"¡Salve, Oh Patria!" ("We Salute You, Our Homeland") is the national anthem of Ecuador. The lyrics were written in 1865 by the poet Juan León Mera, under request of the Ecuadorian Senate; the music was composed by Antonio Neumane. However, the anthem was not officially adopted by the Congress until September 29, 1948.

In 1865, the Argentine musician Juan José Allende, in collaboration with the Ecuadorian Army, preseented to the National Congress a musical project for the lyrics by José Joaquín de Olmedo, but it was not well received. In November of this year, at the express request of the president of the Senate, Nicolás Espinosa, the Ambateño poet Juan León Mera Martínez, who was then the secretary of the Senate, wrote and submitted the lyrics of the National Anthem. These lyrics were then sent, with Congressional approval, to Guayaquil, so that Antonio Neumane would set them to music. This is the hymn that would later be officialized as the definitive national anthem.

On January 16, 1866, the complete version of the lyrics by Juan León Mera were published in the Quiteño weekly El Sud Americano. In 1870, the national anthem premiered in the Plaza Grande (Plaza de la Independencia facing the Palacio de Gobierno), performed by the 2nd Battalion and the Compañía Lírica de Pablo Ferreti, directed by Antonio Neumane. The music was in the key of C flat major. The current introduction of 16 measures was composed by Domingo Brescia and Enrique Marconi in 1901. Today, the hymn is performed in the key of E major.

The stamp above features the national anthem of Ecuador with notation and lyrics issued in 2010 (UPAEP series on national symbols).

The UPAEP Symbols Series 2010: The National Anthem of Cuba

2011-02-08T01:18:00.000-08:00

El Himno de Bayamo (The Bayamo Anthem) is the national anthem of Cuba. It was first performed during the Battle of Bayamo in 1868. Perucho Figueredo, who took part in the battle, wrote and composed the song. The melody, also called La Bayamesa, was composed by Figueredo in 1867. On October 20, 1868 the Cuban forces obtained the capitulation of the Spaniard authorities in Bayamo, the jubilant people surrounded Figueredo and asked him to write an anthem with the melody they were humming. Right on the saddle of his horse, Figueredo wrote the lyrics of the anthem, which was longer than the current official version.

Figueredo was captured and executed by the Spaniards two years later. Just before the firing squad received the Fire command, Figueredo shouted the line from his anthem: Morir por la Patria es vivir. Officially adopted in 1902, the anthem was retained after the revolution of 1959. The arrangement commonly used, without credit in Cuba, is believed to be that of José Norman, author of Cuban Pete. The Cuban composer Antonio Rodriguez-Ferrer, was the author of the musical introductory notes to the Cuban national anthem.

The stamp above features the score of the Cuban national anthem issued in 2010, one of a set of 4 stamps of Cuban national symbols (UPAEP series)

The Anthem of Europe on a Special Cancel

2011-02-07T22:19:00.000-08:00

"Ode to Joy" (German original title: "Ode an die Freude") is the anthem of the European Union and the Council of Europe; both of which refer to it as the European Anthem due to the Council's intention that it represent Europe as a whole, rather than any organization. It is based on the final movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony composed in 1823, and is played on official occasions by both organizations. The anthem is adapted from the final movement of Ludwig von Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", from his Ninth Symphony, The official arrangement was done by Herbert von Karajan. While Beethoven's work has German words by Friedrich Schiller, as the European anthem no lyrics are used officially, rather the anthem is in the "international language of music."

Ode to Joy is the anthem of the Council of Europe and the European Union, promoted as a symbol for the whole of Europe as are the other European symbols. It is used on occasions such as Europe Day and formal events such as the signing of treaties. The European Parliament seeks to make greater use of the music, then-Parliament President Hans-Gert Pöttering stated he was moved when the anthem was played for him on his visit to Israel and ought to be used in Europe more often.

In 2008 it was used by Kosovo as its national anthem until it adopted its own, and it was played at its declaration of independence, as a nod to the EU's role in its independence from Serbia.

At the 2007 signing ceremony for the Treaty of Lisbon, the plenipotentiaries of the European Union's twenty-seven Member States stood in attendance while the Ode to Joy was played and a choir of 26 Portuguese children sang the original German lyrics.

On 4 October 2010 the anthem was used for the first time at a major sporting event when a European team beat a team representing the United States of America to win the Ryder Cup golf tournament. The European Ryder Cup captain Colin Montgomerie decided to break with tradition and play the European anthem by itself instead of the individual anthems from participating European nations. As a result the European anthem was broadcast around the world at a major sporting event for the first time.

The envelope above shows the Hymn of the European Union on a special cancel issued in Germany in 1999.

The UPAEP Symbols Series 2010: The Brazilian National Anthem on Stamp

2011-02-06T05:11:00.000-08:00

The Brazilian national anthem (Hino Nacional Brasileiro) was composed by Francisco Manuel da Silva in 1822 and had been given at least two sets of unofficial lyrics before a 1922 decree by President Epitácio Pessoa gave the anthem its definitive, official lyrics, by Osório Duque-Estrada, after several changes were made to his proposal, written in 1909.

The melody of the Brazilian national anthem was composed by Francisco Manuel da Silva in 1822. In style, the music resembles early Romantic Italian music such as that of Gioachino Rossini. On September 7 of that year, the country declared its independence from the Portuguese Empire.

In 1831, it became a popular song after the addition of verses celebrating the abdication of the Brazilian throne by Pedro I. Later, at the time of the coronation of Pedro II, its lyrics were changed and the song, due to its huge popularity, started being considered the national anthem, although it was not enacted as such. There was no statute at the time establishing a National Anthem, but the melody, without lyrics, was widely used as such during the reign of Emperor Pedro II, and was regarded as the National Anthem by all.

After the Proclamation of the Republic in 1889, the new rulers made a competition in order to choose a new anthem, and the competition was won by Leopoldo Miguez. After protests against the adoption of the proposed new anthem, however, President Deodoro da Fonseca formalized Francisco Manuel da Silva's composition as the National Anthem, while Miguez's composition was deemed the Anthem of the Proclamation of the Republic. Dedoro himself was said to prefer the old anthem to the new composition that became the Anthem of the Proclamation of the Republic. During the celebration of the centenary of the Proclamation of Independence, in 1922, an adapted version of Joaquim Osório Duque Estrada's lyrics, proposed in 1909, were deemed official. Prior to that, the anthem had different lyrics in each Brazilian state.

The stamp above features the score and lyrics on the Brazilian national anthem issued on 2010 (UPAEP symbols series).

Stamp of a Genius...Hamzah Marbella

2011-02-01T18:01:00.000-08:00

A 6 years old child prodigy designed this stamp. His name is Hamzah Marbella, the youngest member of the Art Association of the Philippines (entered at 5 years old). He has also been widely recognized by his peer adult artists and local art dealers as a most prolific child prodigy in visual arts.

With the theme "Mailbox of the Future", he designed a postage stamp which expressed how the mailbox, which represent the postal business, together with stamps and letters, will look like in the future. In 2008, he won first prize in the a postage stamp design competition in South Korea and got himself P50,000 as prize, aside from the honor and prestige.

Hamzah has also produced some 300 outstanding artworks and have been awarded with more than 100 top prizes, honors and citations and accolades since he started painting at age two. He is now nine years old.

Some of his notable awards include- Outstanding Artist Award (Ani ng Sining) from the National Commission for Culture and Arts (2009), Grand Prize, Colors of Art Competition, Certificate of Recognition at the UN International Children's Art Competition, Award of Excellence, International Stamp Design Competition (2008). He is also an honor student and consistent scholar in his school in Cavite.

Presently his art is presently exhibited at the Galerie Joaquin at the Podium.

Esperanto- The Language With an Anthem

2011-01-28T09:03:00.000-08:00

The only language in the world with its own flag and anthem, the word "Esperanto" translates as "hope" or "hoping one" and also provides the title of the anthem of the language. The anthem speaks of the goal of the language, to bind the nations together with a common language in peace.

Esperanto is the only constructed language with native speakers, that is, people who learned it from their parents as one of their native languages. Estimates range from 10,000 to two million additional active or fluent speakers. Usage is particularly high in eastern and northern Europe, eastern Asia, Brazil, and Iran. A World Congress of Esperanto was organized in France in 1905, and since then has been held in various countries every year apart from during the world wars.

Although no country has adopted it officially, Esperanto was recommended by the French Academy of Sciences in 1921, was recognized by UNESCO in 1954, and is currently the language of instruction of a university in San Marino. There is evidence that learning Esperanto may provide a superior foundation for learning languages in general, and some primary schools teach it as preparation for learning other foreign languages.

The words were among the first Esperanto poetry, written by Dr. Zamenhof, the inventor of the Esperanto language, and the melody was especially written by French composer Félicien de Ménil (July 16, 1960- March 28, 1930). It is played at the opening of congresses. An interesting coincidence is that this anthem has the same title as that of the anthem of Israel, perhaps explained by the fact that Dr. Zamenhof was Jewish.

The picture above features the composer, Felicien de Menil, in a series of caricature postcards in 1912.

Georgi Dimitri and "Balgariyo Mila"

2011-01-24T05:50:00.000-08:00

Bulgaria, "Balgariyo Mila" (Dear Bulgaria) was the National anthem of Bulgaria in use from 1950-1964. The words were written by Nikola Furnadshiev, Mladen Issaev and Elisaveta Bagrjana and set to music by Georgi Zlatev-Tscherkin, Svetoslav Obretenov and Georgi Dimitri.

Once Communist rule was secured in Bulgaria, "Balgariyo mila" was introduced as the national anthem. Interestingly, the anthem was replaced in 1964 while the Communists were still in power. One of the composers of the music, Georgi Dimitrov (not to be confused with the Communist leader of the time with the same name) also wrote the previous anthem.

Georgi Dimitri (born June 18, 1882, Kovachevtsi, Bulg. — died July 2, 1949, near Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) was a Bulgarian communist leader. He helped found the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1919. After leading a communist uprising in 1923 that provoked fierce government reprisals, he was forced to live abroad and became head of the central European section of the Com-intern in Berlin (1929 – 33). He won worldwide fame for his defense against Nazi accusations in the Reichstag fire trial of 1933. He headed the Comintern in Moscow (1935 – 43), then returned to Bulgaria, where he served as prime minister (1945 – 49). He effected the communist consolidation of power that formed the Bulgarian People's Republic in 1946.

The stamps above features Dimitri Georgi, one of the Bulgarian composers of the anthem in use from 1959-1964. It was issued on 1949, the year of his death.

"The Wall of Steel", Taldir Jaffrenou ,Writer and Anthem Composer

2011-01-20T00:40:00.000-08:00

Francois Joseph-Claude Jaffrennou (March 15, 1879 - March 26, 1956) was a Breton language writer and editor. He was a Breton nationalist and a neo-druid bard. He is also known as François Taldir-Jaffrennou, since he also used the Druid name Taldir ("Wall of Steel"). He was one of the pioneers of the Breton autonomous movement. He composed the National anthem of Britanny.

Breton nationalism is the nationalism of the traditional province of Brittany in France. Brittany is considered to be one of the six Celtic nations (along with Cornwall, Ireland, Wales, the Isle of Man and Scotland). Like the nationalism of many neighboring regions, Breton nationalism combines political as well as cultural aspects.

The political aspirations of Breton nationalists include the desire to obtain the right to self-rule, whether within France or independently of it, and to acquire more power in the European Union, United Nations and other international bodies.

Breton cultural nationalism includes an important linguistic component, with Breton and Gallo speakers seeking equality with French language in the region. Cultural nationalists also seek a re invigoration of Breton music, traditions and symbols, and the forging of strong links with other Celtic nations.

The French government's official position is to consider Brittany as a part of France, a position claimed to date from the time when the March of Neustria was controlled by Roland, but dating officially from the dynastic marriage in 1491 of Anne, Duchess of Brittany with the king of France. This could include a range of views, from allowing Brittany a devolved government to curbing wishes for independence through to the extremes of banning Breton nationalist parties entirely and the Breton and Gallo languages.

Unexpected Music Stamps on an Envelope

2011-01-06T08:44:00.000-08:00

It is always a delight to receive mail from friends and sellers with your thematic stamp posted on the envelope.

I once received a letter from Slovakia with a stamp of Beethoven on it; I was truly thankful to the sender. He may even be unaware of what he has done, especially if someone else mailed the letter for him. I was also pleasantly surprised when a letter from Macedonia had not one, but two stamps of Chopin on the envelope. I ordered an envelope with a cancel of the Macedonian anthem, and I got an added bonus of two stamps. I have not thanked him so I’ll thank him now- thank you sir! Good sellers should consider the thematic collections of buyers and should post stamps related to their collection if it is available.

The joy of philately is in the searching, anticipating and acquiring of one’s want list. The wait is even better than the actual acquisition. Sometimes, when a collection is almost complete, collectors feel a sense of melancholia, that there is nothing more to collect- as in the case of my Beethoven collection. If new stamps of the thematic collection are issued, then the flames of excitement are re-ignited.

The envelope above is from Macedonia with two stamps of Chopin, the poet of the piano.

The Irish Who wrote the First Version of Japan's Anthem Kimigayo

2010-12-03T17:46:00.000-08:00

The music for the first version of the Japanese national anthem, the Kimigayo, was penned by an Irishman, John William Fenton. Fenton, who was born in Kinsale, County Cork in 1828, came to Japan as a bandmaster with the British army in 1868, the year of Meiji Restoration. In the following year, he started training of the Brass Band in Japan for soldiers of the Satsuma clan at Myoko-ji temple in Yokohama. This band became the country's first military band.

When the Emperor Meiji inspected the troops consisting of 4 clans including Satsuma, the military band played for the first time in public. In this occasion, Fenton hastily composed a ceremonial melody to accompany the poem "Kimigayo". Over time, this became accepted as the national anthem, although the current anthem is different from Fenton's original version. Fenton is also known as the father of brass band music in Japan and is celebrated for his musical contribution to Japan.

Above is a first day composer featuring a conductor with a band on the cachet issued in Japan on 1989.

Alcatraz Island Discovery Related to Postal Service

2010-12-01T01:43:00.000-08:00

Alcatraz Island is an island located in the San Francisco Bay, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. Often referred to as The Rock, the small island early-on served as a lighthouse, a military fortification, a military prison, and a Federal Bureau of Prisons federal prison until 1963. Later, in 1972, Alcatraz became a national recreation area and received land-marking designations in 1976 and 1986.

Today, the island is a historic site operated by the National Park Service as part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and is open to tours. Visitors can reach the island by ferry ride from Pier 33, near Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. In 2008 the nation's first hybrid propulsion ferry started serving the island. Alcatraz has been featured in many movies, TV shows, cartoons, books, comics, and games.

During its 29 years of operation, the penitentiary claimed no prisoners had ever successfully escaped. 36 prisoners were involved in 14 attempts, two men trying twice; 23 were caught, six were shot and killed during their escape, and three were lost at sea and never found. The most violent occurred on May 2, 1946 when a failed escape attempt by six prisoners led to the so-called Battle of Alcatraz.

On June 11, 1962, Frank Morris, John Anglin and Clarence Anglin successfully carried out one of the most intricate escapes ever devised. The attempt was the subject of the 1979 film Escape from Alcatraz with screenplay by Richard Tuggle; directed by Don Siegel and starring Clint Eastwood as Frank Morris, Jack Thibeau as Clarence Anglin and Fred Ward as John Anglin.

The discovery of Alcatraz is related to the Postal Service. The San Carlos, a Spanish packet ship, discovered the Island of Alcatraz on August 5, 1775. The primary function of packet ships was the transport of mail. The Spanish explorer Juan Manuel de Ayala named the Island, La Isla de los Alcatraces, which translates to the Island of the Pelicans. Later the name was shortened and altered to the current name of Alcatraz.

The first U.S. Post Office opened on Alcatraz Island on March 6, 1874. At the time, Alcatraz was a U.S. Army reservation known as the “Post at Alcatraz,” which had been established in 1850. The Army post closed in 1933, and on January 1, 1934, Alcatraz became a U.S. federal penitentiary. The island Post Office developed a rubber stamp which featured a cartoon like pelican with the Golden Gate Bridge in the background. That theme has been reproduced for the 75-year anniversary cancellation. When the prison closed in 1963, the Alcatraz Post Office also closed.

Above is an envelope with a special pictorial cancel featuring Alcatraz Island on the 75th anniversary of its station on August 8, 2009.

The Anthem of Mallorca

2010-12-01T00:36:00.000-08:00

La Balanguera is the anthem of Majorca (Mallorca), Spain. Majorca ("Mallorca" in Spanish and Catalan) is an island located in the Mediterranean Sea, one of the Balearic Islands. It is largest by area and second most populated island of Spain (after Tenerife in the Canary Islands).

The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Cabrera archipelago is administratively grouped with Majorca (in the municipality of Palma).

Like the other Balearic Islands of Ibiza, Formentera and Minorca, the island is a highly popular holiday destination, particularly for tourists from Germany, the United Kingdom and to a lesser extent, Ireland. The name derives from Latin insula maior, "larger island"; later Maiorica, "the larger one" in comparison to Menorca.

The official anthem is an adaptation of Joan Alcover i Maspons (1854-1926) poem based on an ancient and popular Majorcan children's song. The music is a work by the Catalan composer Amadeo Vives and in November 1996 the Consell Insular de Mallorca made it the anthem for the Island.

Amadeo Vives (18 November 1871 – 1 December 1932) was a Spanish musical composer, creator of over a hundred stage works. He is also known by the Catalan form of his name, Amadeu Vives. He is best known for Doña Francisquita, which Christopher Webber has praised for its "easy lyricism, fluent orchestration and colorful evocation of 19th Century Madrid—not to mention its memorable vocal and choral writing" characterizes as "without doubt the best known and loved of all his works, one of the few zarzuelas which has 'traveled' abroad" .

The envelope above with a special cancel featuring the score and lyrics of the anthem of Mallorca.

Latvian National Anthem on Stamp

2010-11-30T23:31:00.000-08:00

Dievs, svētī Latviju! (God Bless Latvia) is the national anthem of Latvia. The words and music were written by Kārlis Baumanis (Baumaņu Kārlis, 1834–1904), in 1873. Baumanis, a teacher, was part of the Young Latvian nationalist movement. It has been speculated that Baumanis may have borrowed part of the lyrics from a popular song which was sung to tune of God Save the Queen, modified them and set them to music of his own. Baumanis's lyrics were different from the modern ones: he used the term "Baltics" synonymously and interchangeably with "Latvia" and "Latvians", so "Latvia" was actually mentioned only at the beginning of the first verse. Later the term "Latvia" was removed and replaced with "Baltics" to avoid a ban on the song. This has led to the misapprehension that the term "Latvia" was not part of the song until 1920, when it was chosen as national anthem and the word "Baltics" was replaced with "Latvia".

The stamp above featuring the Latvian anthem lyrics and composer, Karlis Baumanis was issued on 2010, the 100th Anniversary of the Republic of Latvia.

The UPAEP Symbols Series 2010: Suriname National Anthem on Stamps and FDC

2010-11-30T23:20:00.000-08:00

"God zij met ons Suriname!" (God Be With Our Suriname, is the national anthem of Suriname. The anthem has its beginnings in a Sunday School song written in 1893 by Cornelis Atses Hoekstra called "Suriname's Trotsche Stroomen" (Suriname's Proud Streams). The song was set to a piece of music by Johannes Corstianus de Puy written in 1876. In 1959, after self-government was granted, the government asked the poet Henry de Ziel (whose pen name was Trefossa) to write lyrics for the anthem in the language popularly spoken in Suriname, Sranan Tongo. He also revised Hoekstra's lyrics of the second verse to remove the "negative tones" in some lines. Originally the anthem was song with de Ziel's verse first, but now it is performed with Hoekstra's Dutch verse first and de Ziel's Sranan lyrics as the second verse.

The stamp with FDC features the score and lyrics of Suriname's national anthem issued on September 2010 (UPAEP symbols series).

Dangerous Running

2010-11-26T11:45:00.000-08:00

I'm a nocturnal creature. My physical and creative powers are at its peak after the sun sets. In the country where I live, I always have difficulty waking up very early. It takes me some time before going into full gear; that usually occurs later in the day. It is a struggle for me to join morning runs because I always felt that I would fall back to sleep while running. There has always been this theory in my head that if I lived in the other side of the world, where it's daytime during our nighttime, then I would become a daytime creature. This was proven right when we visited the United States a few weeks ago. Upon awakening, I go into full throttle and hit the road for an early morning run. I never experienced jet lag since arriving in the Land of the Free.

I love running in the cold and in environments where the scenery is picturesque. These qualities were present in the nature preserve park adjacent to where we stayed. Running is supposed to be a safe, non- contact sport. It never occurred to me that you can run dangerously until I decided to do so at a nature park in Lincoln, California. Here, there.....the threat of death lurks while you run. A big sign is posted as you enter, "Be Alert!!! Expect the Unexpected. Watch for Rattlesnakes". I felt my face turn ashen for a while. Suddenly the treat of running became a threat. Still, I decided to run, positioning myself at the center of the smooth and well-paved cemented road, so I can easily spot an attacking venomous snake. I was told that some years back, a runner was bitten as the snake darted from a tree. So my eyes were focused up as I passed by the massive hundred-year old oak trees of this park which was formerly a ranch.

In the 1850's, William Moore and his wife Hannah and their three children established the first homestead ranch in this area- the New York Ranch. The ranch had an area of 160 acres and contained a small house, barn, and some other buildings. Life was hard for the Moore's, and after 10 years of ranching, they sold the property to George Whitney for US$ 1,500. In 1868, George and his sons moved to the area and acquired an additional 20,000 acres. He developed the property by building homes, roads and bridges and raising livestock. The Twelve Bridges community is named after the twelve granite bridges which he built. We can still see these granite bridges today but a mere 500 square meter piece of real estate now costs a million dollars!

The run was very satisfying. The vast oak woodlands and riparian vegetation were unique to someone from the orient. And so was the fauna. I saw a jackrabbit, a squirrel, an eagle and several species of birds, but none of those venomous snakes- Thank God! " You've run 7 kilometers", the sweet female voice of my iPod conveyed. I had to stop, not because I'm exhausted but because the sun was beginning to scorch in spite of the cold wind.

I took a deep breath and smiled, glad to be alive after the run.

Non-Boxer Boxing Personalities I Met at Gaylord Texan

2010-11-25T18:44:00.000-08:00

In Dallas, we stayed at the hotel where the PacMan was staying, the luxurious Gaylord Texan at Grapevine, Texas. It is centrally located between downtown Dallas and Fort Worth and about 30 minutes from Dallas Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, the venue of the the fight between multi-divisional champion, Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao and the larger "Tijuana Tornado", Mexican Antonio Margarito. We arrived the day before the fight and our Sudanese cab driver, Jamal told us that a lot of Filipinos had been arriving at Dallas since 2 days ago. Several boxing personalities were spotted around Gaylord- these are some of them, starting with the non-boxers (writers, commentators, promoters, relatives, etc).

Wakee Salud. At first I thought he would be an intimidating andboisterous personality but I was gravely mistaken- he is a gentle giant. The long time Pacman friend and promoter is really a kindhearted person, always willing to share his thoughts about his ward's fights. When I first saw him, he was limping in pain and I quickly asked him, "What's the problem"? He told me that the incessant walking since he arrived caused the pain which he thinks is muscular in origin. I asked permission to examine his legs, queried a few more questions, and gave him some analgesics after wards. He was very thankful. He kept on commenting that she is very "buotan" (kind), referring to my younger sister, Mary.

Another personality I encountered was Mr. Elie Seckbach. He is sports writer for Fanhouse and a prominent You Tube personality. I love watching his videos and reading his commentaries at Philboxing.com because he is a certified Pacmaniac. In one of his many interviews at the Gaylord lobby, he ask me who's gonna win the fight, and of course, I said the Pacman. He is a very likable person with a charming smile; he looks better though with his cap on due to hints of alopecia. He was also kind enough to give me an autographed picture after I asked for one.

At first I didn't recognized him because he looks too American. But, on closer inspection, I knew it was Michael Marley, the "White Gorilla". Mr. Marley is a sports writer of the Examiner.com and also a Pachugger. He loves Filipinos and knows more about Philippine culture than most Filipinos. An ardent follower of his column, my first impression of him was that he was a Filipino pretending to be an American writer. But I was mistaken, he really is an American with an American face and accent. He was having some pictorials with a Philippine celebrity when I approached him. "You should have pictures with her" he quipped, "No, Mr. Marley, I wanna have pictures with you". I told him I was from Cebu and is a regular follower of his column. He thanked me and wished me well. After I had photos with him, several of the fans followed suit. I was a little proud that I was the first one to recognize him.

We were fortunate to have dinner with Wakee Salud and his companion, Rowel Pacquiao, Manny's younger brother. He was shy and seriously quiet. We had dinner at the Old Hickory Steakhouse at Gaylord. The steaks were very expensive and not extraordinary. The best steaks in Dallas, for me, is the Ranch Steakhouse located downtown. He was seated far from me so I was not able to strike a decent conversation with him. I wanted to ask him how Manny was as a kid and if they ever had a fist fight? I was quite sure who'd win if ever they had one.

At the Gaylord store, my wife got a Pacquiao-Margarito official T-shirt. I got a limited edition poker chip (only 500 copies made) and the official event boxing glove for US$60. When we had our lunch at the Mexican restaurant, we saw Mr. Freddie Roach and had the gloves signed. I expected Manny to sign the other side of the glove the next day, however, I was disappointed that he had to fore-go with the signing due to his painfully swollen hands. Roach was smiling and was very accommodating in spite of the bodyguards. I also had a picture taken with him. As he walked down the corridor, an young American fan was shouting at the top of his lungs "the trainer of the greatest boxer in the world, Mr. Freddie Roach" He just walked on.

The day before the fight, we attended the mass with Manny Pacquiao. After the mass, we approached Buboy Fernandez, Manny's long time buddy and assistant trainer, for a photo op. He was very busy packing all of Pacs belts that were blessed during the mass. He then smiled and lifted Manny's boxing shoes, for a perfect shot. He has remained humble through all these years.

There were several other boxing personalities I met and had a photo op with. These include Chino Trinidad, a boxing writer and commentator, Mommy Dionisia, Pacman's mom, Alex Ariza, Pacman's conditioning coach and Mayor Bing Leonardia, Bacolod mayor and an avid Pacman supporter. I was looking for Mary Dumon and Dennis Guillermo, boxing writers, but unfortunately was unable to spot them. I'm so glad to have met these people and will forever cherish these encounters with them. Come to think of it, I never had a picture with an entertainment celebrity- except perhaps Mommy D?

Pictures above- with the mentioned personalities and my brother-in-law, Lyndon S. Uy.

Van Gogh, Cezanne and Beyond and my Art Cube

2010-11-23T01:02:00.000-08:00

Does too much excitement make you forget...or am I getting old?

A few weeks ago, during our visit to San Francisco, I had the opportunity to fulfill a dream in my life- to see the works of the great Masters of Art- Van Gogh, Cezanne, Gauguin. and the rest. While my wife was shopping at Costco, I saw an advertisement that the works of the post-impressionist masters are displayed in the de Young Museum at the Golden Gate Park. My wife was unable to come with me; she had to pack our things for our flight back home later that night. Good thing that my newly married sister, Mary Elizabeth, who also loves art, was kind enough to accompany me to the Musee d Orsay exhibit.

The Musee d Orsay is a strain station created for the Paris International Exposition of 1900 which was transformed into a museum by world renowned architect, Gae Aulenti. It first opened to the public in December 9, 1986 with its goal to highlight the art of the western world from the period 1848 through 1914. Its collection, one of the world finest, is composed of paintings, sculpture, drawings, decorative arts, furniture, photography and architectural work from this period consolidated from the collections of the Louvre, Jeu de Paume and Modern Art Museum in Paris as well as major gift from private collectors, artists and their heirs. Their collection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings represents the finest survey of its kind in the world.

The museum was full when we arrived late in the afternoon. One has the option for an audio guided tour, but since we were pressed for time we skipped this one. The exhibit was entitled, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cezanne and Beyond: Masterpieces from the Musee d Orsay, which was the second part of the two part exhibition, the first showcasing the Birth of Impressionism.

In this exhibit, eight signature paintings by Cezanne, such as the Bathers, were shown, illustrating his pioneering exploration of pictorial structure. Great works of Van Gogh were also featured, including, a Self-Portrait, the colorful Bedroom at Arles and my sister Mary's favorite, Starry Night over the Rhone. I kept trailing a learned "art critic" who was avidly explaining the paintings to her friends. I learned so much from her, like how the chair in Van Gogh's Bedroom at Arles was blocking the door, the simplicity of the floor and the who the pictures were in the frames. She said that Van Gogh was in depression during this times and ostracized himself from the world which led to his eventual suicide.

One of my favorite pointillist painters, Georges Seurat was also featured. My favorite was Model in Profile. His paintings are light and dreamy from afar, but when you go near the painting, you'll notice that all the strokes are in dots. It must have taken him a long time to finish one painting considering that a hundred thousand dots would be required for one work. Paul Gaugain's influential position is also represented through ten of his superb works like the Portrait of the Artist with the Yellow Christ and the Tahitian scene Arearea. Toulouse-Latrec also makes an appearance with bold The Lady Clown Cha-U-Kao and the contrastingly intimate, The Bed.

Other artist prominent artists featured in the exhibit include Monet, Signac, Denis, Moreau, Bonnard and Vuillard (the Le Nabis), and Henri Rosseau. His Snake Charmer was mystifying. Expansive canvases by the Nabis created a tapestry-like environment, filling the gallery space with the gaiety painted light and flat patterned color. It was truly a visual treat.

Riding a cab on our way home, I saw Ludwig van Beethoven's statue in front of the California Academy of Sciences building. We told the cab driver to stop cause I need to have myself pictured beside my musical idol. We alighted, and my sister took some pictures- which brings us back to my first statement. At the back of the life-like statue, I placed the Art Cube which I purchased from the Museum store before posing for pictures. I never got it back.

On our way to the airport for home, it suddenly dawned on me that the Art Cube was left at the Golden Gate Park. I sat at the pre-departure area dismayed and rode the plane for 16 hours thinking and dreaming about life, my wife and kids, the paintings and the Art Cube.

When we arrived two days later, my sister posted on her FB wall- "dorky brother, we found your cube"....

The Sixth Floor Museum, JFK and Assassinated Composers and Lyricist

2010-11-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

Today marks the 47th anniverary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the thirty-fifth President of the United States, which took place on Friday, November 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, at 12:30 p.m. in Dealey Plaza. Kennedy was fatally shot while riding with his wife Jacqueline in a Presidential motorcade. God bless his soul...

I was fortunate to have visited the The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza in Dallas Texas which is located on the sixth and seventh floors of an early 20th-century warehouse known in 1963 as the Texas School Book Depository. Opened on Presidents Day 1989, the Museum has since welcomed more than 6 million visitors from around the world—people of all ages seeking information and understanding about the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. The museum tours are self-guided. After the tour, JFK memorabilia is sold at the museum store near the entrance. I was able to get a sticker magnet which showed JFK on a postage stamp.

An assassination is the targeted killing of a public figure, usually for political purposes. Assassinations may be prompted by religious, ideological, political, or military reasons. Additionally, assassins may be motivated by financial gain, revenge, or personal public recognition. Assassination may also refer to the government-sanctioned killing of opponents or to targeted attacks on high-profile enemy combatants.

In figurative language usage, the word assassination may also be used in colloquial speech as a hyperbole, as in the phrase "character assassination", meaning an attempt to impugn another character, and thus kill ("assassinate") his reputation and credibility.

The word assassin is derived from the Arabic word Hashshashin, referred to the Persian designation of the Nizari branch of the Ismā'īlī Shia under the instruction of Hassan aṣ-Ṣabbaḥ during the Middle Ages. They were active in the fort of Alamut in Iran from the eighth to the fourteenth centuries. This group killed members of the Arab Abbasid, Seljuq and crusaders élite for political and religious reasons, but mostly targeted the knights Templar and the ruling Sunni kings in the name of the Fatimid Shia Sultans of Egypt. Later, after Egypt became Sunni during the campaigns of Saladin, Assassins continued on their own account.

The earliest known literary use of the word assassination is in Macbeth by William Shakespeare (1605).

Some of the anthem composers who were killed, shot or assassinated include Thomas Sankara (Burkina Faso), Amilcar Cabral (Guinea-Bissau), Juan Jose Landaeta, Nie Er of China (suspected- drowning) and Barthelemy Boganda of Central African Republic (suspected- plane crash).

The stamp above was issued by Niger in 1998 to commemorate John F. Kennedy's assassination.

Falling for Napa

2010-11-21T23:55:00.001-08:00

A week ago, my wife and I were in California to attend the wedding of our beautiful youngest sister, Mary Elizabeth Avanzado (Tambis). One of our side-trips was a visit to quaint yet intoxicating Napa Valley, a grape-growing region located in Napa County, California, USA. Considered one of the top wine regions in the United States, it is one of only nine Great Wine Capitals on earth, with a history dating back to the nineteenth century.

After a smooth hour and a half ride from Sacramento, we were taken to the picturesque countryside of Napa, a place vibrant with colors of amber, green and crimson. The shades of the flora were changing, and the leaves falling fast, signifying that winter is around the corner. The air was sweetly aromatic and the temperature comfortably cool. We arrived around 2 pm and had a late lunch at a/k/a Bistro in downtown St. Helena. We were greeted in a bustling bar area and comfy lounge serving up handmade cocktails which won them Diner's Choice award last year.

The setting is sophisticated yet casual with butter-cream walls, concrete floors, twig-wrapped light pendants, an eco-friendly fireplace and a soaring wall of wine. a|k|a Bistro also features one of the most compelling wine lists in the Napa Valley, with 50 wines by the glass and 500 on the list. "The discovery of a wine is of greater moment than the discovery of a constellation. The universe is too full of stars.", read the front page menu. I feasted on the succulent steak, crispy portobello fries with basil aioli and calamari. After the sumptuous meal, we visited some wineries and nostalgic vineyards for posterity. Four types of wine were tasted at the BV winery. My favorite was the one grown at the Creek. The combination of Mediterranean climate, geography and geology of The Valley are conducive to growing quality wine grapes.

John Patchett established the Napa Valley's first commercial vineyard in 1858. In 1861 Charles Krug established Napa Valley's first commercial winery in St. Helena. Viticulture, the science of grape-growing, in Napa suffered several setbacks in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including an outbreak of the vine disease phylloxera and the Great Depression. The wine industry in Napa Valley recovered, and helped by the results of the Paris Wine Tasting of 1976, came to be seen as capable of producing the best quality wine - equal to that of Old World wine regions.

Napa Valley is a very popular tourist destination in California with almost 4.5 million visitors yearly. It is also "The World's Best Wine and Food Destination" as awarded by Trip Advisor's 2010 Travelers' Choice Awards. You don't have to be a wine lover to love this place. If you love beauty and you love life then you'll surely love this enchanting place- I surely did.

The American Anthem in French

2010-10-15T06:51:00.000-07:00

"The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry", a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.

The poem was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club in London. "The Anacreontic Song" (or "To Anacreon in Heaven"), with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. Set to Key's poem and renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner", it would soon become a well-known American patriotic song. With a range of one and a half octaves, it is known for being difficult to sing. Although the song has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today, with the fourth ("O thus be it ever when free men shall stand...") added on more formal occasions. In the fourth stanza, Key urged the adoption of "In God is our Trust" as the national motto ("And this be our motto: In God is our Trust"). The United States adopted the motto "In God We Trust" by law in 1956.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" was recognized for official use by the Navy in 1889 and the President in 1916, and was made the national anthem by a congressional resolution on March 3, 1931 (46 Stat. 1508, codified at 36 U.S.C. § 301), which was signed by President Herbert Hoover.

Above is a postal card of the American Anthem in French.

The Philippine Presidents: A Stamp and Photo Exhibit

2010-10-02T19:06:00.000-07:00

This first-of-its kind exhibit from the collections of Cebu Stamp Club's Richard Allen Uy is presented to celebrate the assumption of Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III as the 15th President of the Philippines. To be featured are the stamps, covers and photo of the new president as well as those of all the past presidents. Included too are philatelic materials and stamps of the great icon of democracy, Cory Aquino. Philippine history will also be shown using stamps with some dating as far back as the Spanish dominion, American Occupation, Commonwealth Period, Japanese Occupation and the Republic Issues. So if you are free this Friday, October 8, 2010, please give it a visit at SM City Cebu.

"Il Canto degli Italiani" (The Song of the Italians)

2010-10-01T01:10:00.000-07:00

"Il Canto degli Italiani" (The Song of the Italians) aka "Fratelli D'Italia" (Brothers of Italy), Mameli's Hymn, is the National anthem of Italy.

Il Canto degli Italiani (The Song of the Italians) is the Italian national anthem. It is best known among Italians as L'Inno di Mameli (Mameli's Hymn) and often referred to as Fratelli d'Italia (Brothers of Italy), from its opening line.

The words were written in the autumn of 1847 in Genoa, by the then 20-year-old student and patriot Goffredo Mameli, in a climate of popular struggle for unification and independence of Italy which foreshadowed the war against Austria.

Two months later, they were set to music in Turin by another Genoese, Michele Novaro. The hymn enjoyed widespread popularity throughout the period of the Risorgimento and in the following decades.

After unification (1861) the adopted national anthem was the Marcia Reale, the Royal March (or Fanfara Reale), official hymn of the royal house of Savoy composed in 1831 to order of Carlo Alberto di Savoia. The Marcia Reale remained the Italian national anthem until the birth of the republic.

Giuseppe Verdi, in his Inno delle Nazioni (Hymn of the Nations), composed for the London International Exhibition of 1862, chose Il Canto degli Italiani – and not the Marcia Reale – to represent Italy, putting it beside God Save the Queen and the Marseillaise.

In 1946 Italy became a republic, and on October 12, 1946, Il Canto degli Italiani was provisionally chosen as the country's new national anthem. This choice was made official in law only on November 17, 2005, almost 60 years later.

The postal card above shows the score and lyrics of the National anthem of Italy.

The Brabançonne- English Version

2010-09-24T20:45:00.000-07:00

The Brabançonne (Song of Brabant) is the national anthem of Belgium. The anthem has a French, a Dutch and a German version, for the three official languages of the country.

According to legend, the Belgian national anthem was written in September 1830, during the Belgian Revolution, by a young revolutionary called Jenneval, who read the lyrics during a meeting at the Aigle d'Or café.

Jenneval, a Frenchman whose real name was Alexandre Dechet (sometimes known as Louis-Alexandre Dechet), did in fact write the Brabançonne. At the time, he was an actor at the theatre where, in August 1830, the revolution started which led to independence from the Netherlands. Jenneval died in the war of independence. François Van Campenhout composed the accompanying score and it was first performed in September 1830.

In 1860, Belgium formally adopted the song and music as its national anthem, although the then prime minister edited lyrics attacking the Dutch Prince of Orange. The Brabançonne is also a monument (1930) by the sculptor Charles Samuël on the Surlet de Chokier square in Brussels. The monument contains partial lyrics of both the French and Dutch versions of the anthem. As many elements in Belgian folklore, this is mainly based on the French "La Marseillaise" which is also an anthem and the name of a monument in Paris.

The ending, pledging loyalty to "Le Roi, la Loi, la Liberté !" ("The King, the Law, Liberty!") is an obvious parallel to the French "Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite" - with the republican sentiment of the original replaced in the Belgian version by the promotion of constitutional monarchy (the combination of "The King" and "The Law" is what produces "Liberty"). Actually, a slogan similar to the Belgian one - "la Nation, la Loi, le Roi" ("The Nation, The Law, The King") - had been used in the early days of the French Revolution, when that revolution was still considered to be aimed at Constitutional Monarchy rather than a Republic.

The postal card above features The Brabançonne translated in English.

The Great Charlemagne

2010-09-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

The national anthem of Andorra "El Gran Carelmany" (The Great Charlemagne) presents the nation's history in a first-person narrative. Charlemagne, King of the Franks and Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire, 742 - 814, was born on April 2, 742 in Northern Europe. Charles was the eldest son of Pippin III and Bertrada of Laon. ‘By the sword and the cross,’ Charlemagne became master of Western Europe.

In 768, when Charlemagne was 26, he and his younger brother Carloman inherited the kingdom of the Franks. In 771 Carloman died, and Charlemagne became sole ruler of the kingdom. At that time the Franks were falling back into barbarian ways, neglecting their education and religion. The Saxons of northern Europe were still pagans. In the south, the Roman Catholic church was asserting its power to recover land confiscated by the Lombard kingdom of Italy. Europe was in turmoil.

Charlemagne was determined to strengthen his realm and to bring order to Europe. In 772 he launched a 30-year military campaign to accomplish this objective. By 800 Charlemagne was the undisputed ruler of Western Europe. His vast realm encompassed what are now France, Switzerland, Belgium, and The Netherlands. It included half of present-day Italy and Germany, and parts of Austria and Spain. By establishing a central government over Western Europe, Charlemagne restored much of the unity of the old Roman Empire and paved the way for the development of modern Europe.

On Christmas Day in 800, while Charlemagne knelt in prayer in Saint Peter’s in Rome, Pope Leo III placed a golden crown on the bowed head of the king. Charlemagne is said to have been surprised by the coronation, declaring that he would not have come into the church had he known the pope’s plan. However, some historians say the pope would not have dared to act without Charlemagne's knowledge.

Charlemagne learned to read Latin and some Greek but apparently did not master writing. At meals, instead of having jesters perform, he listened to visiting scholars read from learned works. Charlemagne believed that government should be for the benefit of the governed. He was a reformer who tried to improve his subject’s lives. He set up money standards to encourage commerce and urged better farming methods. ‘By the sword and the cross,’ Charlemagne became master of Western Europe.

As is often the case, people considered great by historians are great killers as well. Throughout his conquests, Charlemagne was responsible for the death of masses of people who refused to accept Christianity, or their new king. Choosing to keep faith with their old gods and leaders, many thousands were slaughtered.

Above is a postcard from Andorra with the lyrics of the national anthem beside the Great Charlemagne.

Computers on Stamps and my Love Affair with the Machine

2010-09-04T07:49:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I visited a link in Delcampe, a stamp auction site, about "Cyber Philately: Computer Stamps- from Abacus to Internet", and a I was transported back in time to my love affair with the "ultimate machine".

Pocket computer- desktop- laptop- notebook- netbook- tablet PC. In a nutshell, that's the evolution of my computers.

Back in 1983, when I was in second year high school, my dad brought me from Japan, my first computer- the Casio PB-300 (picture below), a pocket computer with a built in thermal printer. To my knowledge, it was first the first computer with a built-in thermal printer but had only 2KB of RAM compared to mammoth 4GB of today. There were no elaborate graphics and software programs then. You can only see 12 characters in a line on a monochrome LCD for simple games and computation of algebraic formulas which was very helpful in my elective Calculus subject in high school.

I remember programming a basic shooting game and did some print outs of the program. Years later I saw the prints fade to oblivion. As far as I can remember, there were only two of us who had a pocket computer then-his name is Gene Cagas, now a pastor based in Cambodia. We had weekly competitions of creating the best programs. One time, he conceded defeat when he saw me making a simple shooting program (how complex can a program be, given only a line). In this program random alphanumeric characters would show up and when you press a button, the duration should be right enough to cause an arrow to hit it. If you press to short or too long it would undershoot or overshoot the target. Anyway, I had a really memorable time with my friend Gene. We always reminisce about it during our reunions. Unfortunately, this computer is now forever lost- I never knew if it was stolen or a relative of mine got it (most likely the latter).

During college in the 90's, I had several desktop computers, mostly cloned. I would just choose the sound card, video card, disk drive and all other parts and have them assembled by the supplier. Mostly, these desktops were optimized for gaming, an aspect of computer which I love until now. It was during this time that the internet became popular but dial-ups were sluggish. There was no broadband or WiFi then. I had these desktops during my medical technology years until medical school and residency.

During my fellowship years in 2002, I got myself my first laptop-the HP Compaq Presario. It was in vogue then and very expensive at 90 thousand pesos. It was impressive during its time- with 512 gigs of RAM, 60 GB of memory and Invidia video card capable of handling 3D games and graphics effortlessly. It had no Bluetooth and WiFI. I mastered Counterstrike and Unreal with this laptop and finished Half-Life- a science fiction, first person shooting game and my all-time favorite computer game. My weekly presentation of cases, journals and studies where done with this laptop. During my various symposium and seminars, it traveled with me.

After I finished fellowship and became a consultant with an aching back, the laptop became too heavy for me, so I switched to a notebook- the Acer Travelmate. This was definitely much lighter and smaller but less powerful. I don't really need the extra power because I rarely play graphic intensive video games, with its decent ATI Radeon video card, during these years. This time though, it already had a bluetooth and LAN. It was during this time, that I was into music composition and home recording using software synths like Rob Papen's Blue, Albino, Moog, Vanguard, etc. using the MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) keyboard. I had to get myself a Creative Audigy soundcard which fits snugly into the PCI port to play MIDI and sound intensive programs requiring ASIO like Ableton Live and FL Studio. I did my first home studio recording using this computer- mostly Electronica and Trance music.

When WiFI became ubiquitous, I shifted to a netbook- the Asus 1000HE. I got this because it is very light at two pounds and excellent for surfing. I got a Buffalo wireless router so I can surf anywhere at our home- which led to its eventual demise after using it for less than two years. While surfing at our comfort room, it slipped and broke the plastic edge. Although still functional, it was now cosmetically challenged. I gave it to my wife and got myself a new computer- the Tablet PC.

I was not really impressed with iPad. I mean why buy something expensive just to read and surf? I did some research on this, because I wanted a gadget that works like an iPad but had strong computational skills. These qualities I found in my new tablet PC- The Asus T101 MT.

It's lighter than a notebook but has multitouch features. I had problems with the netbook at night and during traveling when it's very difficult to use the keyboard. With the touch feature, this problem is eliminated. Play Chess, Scrabble or Plants and Zombies on the plane--no problem-- you just touch the screen to move or control the pieces. The websites are a pleasure to surf- you just touch and drag up or down, right or left or flick to scan or change pages. It has an Expressgate feature, a separate OS (operating system) with allows it to boot the system in 5 seconds so you can quickly connect to the internet, view your pictures, listen to internet radio or use Skype. You cannot, however save files in this OS, you have to shift to the Windows 7 OS. by just pressing a button. As of now, I'm very satisfied with this computer. With its handwriting recognition software, I wish I had this during my student days to take notes during lectures. Now, I give lectures, so I just use it for presentations.

Scaling the Great Wall of China

2010-09-01T02:17:00.000-07:00

While the Great Wall of China is not one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it is typically included in the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World. In 1987, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) placed the Great Wall on its list of the world’s great national and historical sites. That the Great Wall is a single, continuous wall built all at once is a myth. In reality, the wall is a discontinuous network of wall segments built by various dynasties to protect China’s northern boundary.

After an hour and a half ride from the central business district in Beijing, we arrived at one of the five Great Wall stations in Badaling. Upon arrival, one can immediately see the watchtowers which were built at regular intervals along the Great Wall and could be up to 40 feet tall. They were once used as lookouts and fortresses as well as for housing garrisons of troops and stockpiled supplies. They were also signal stations, where beacons, smoke, or flags were used for messages. Their architectural styles are diverse considering the several dynasties that ruled when they were built.

The Badaling station didn't have a lift or a cable car, so the only way to reach the sixth watchtower was to walk and climb the steep and perilous stairs. Due to time constraints, we were only given an hour to accomplish this task. The distance from tower to tower was around 300 steps, and I can already hear my wife breathing heavily midway into the second tower. I had to leave her behind because her legs were shaking and felt she could not reach the highest towers without having a heart attack. The view became better and better the higher you go and at the fourth tower, which was my final stop, it was spectacular. There was a feeling of awe and praise for the Chinese for building this wall, reputedly the only man made object seen from space (later proven false). I offered a small prayer to the one million laborers who died while building this magnificent wall- also the the worlds longest cemetery. Because they had no time to dig for graves, all the dead laborers were also buried here. On the way down, I dropped by the Great Wall Store at the second tower to have my name engraved on the medal- proclaiming that you have conquered the wall.

The last battle fought at the Great Wall was in 1938 during the Sino-Japanese War, which was between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. Bullet marks can still be seen in the Wall at Gubeikou. While the Great Wall is currently a symbol of national pride, China struggles with how to manage and protect the Wall while controlling the mass-market development of it. Two organizations, the China Great Wall Society and the International Friends of the Great Wall, are dedicated to preserving it.

My Visit to the Madian Stamp Market in Beijing, China

2010-09-01T00:02:00.000-07:00

It’s sad that Mr. Bin, the stamp seller, would not be able to read this blog and see his picture on the net because just like Twitter and Facebook, Blogger is also restricted in China. There is broadband connection is every Shangri-la hotel in China but there are so many sites you can’t visit. Our eloquent guide Jason, who majored in English and international tourism, told us that since the “Chinese workers union revolt”, early this year, most blog sites were restricted; and he lost several Facebook friends.

We went to the Madian district which was a smooth 45 minute ride from our hotel (luckily there was no traffic that morning) to look for the Stamp and Coin market which was located at No. 23, Huangsi Street, Xicheng District, (tel. number: 62040626). The staff at our hotel was kind enough to call the number to verify their address and to translate the address into Chinese. They hailed a cab and told the driver to take us there, further instructing us that the ride will cost between 30-40 yuan. It is a good idea a take pictures of your want list on your camera or camera phone so that you can show them the exact item you are looking for. Majority of the Chinese nationals doesn’t speak a word of English so common words like music and stamps are alien to them. So, I also got the Chinese for stamps (youpiao) and music (I forgot now) before we left. When they saw the picture, they immediately knew what I wanted.

In July of this year, China Post issued a set of foreign musicians in stamps- Bach, Beethoven, Haydn and Mozart, and I wanted to get these from its original country of origin. I was able to obtain all the four stamps (in strips of 4) and the first day covers. I was also able to buy the stamp of Tai Chuan-Hsien, the composer of the Banner song of Taiwan and a sheet of musicians from North Korea. I was also looking for the first day cover of the China anthem composer Nie Er, but it wasn't available, so I got a block of four instead.

The seller asked us where we were from, and after telling them we were from the Philippines, he displayed a sinister grin and pointed his fingers to his head- like a gun- and conveyed his dismay on the recent hostage taking by a disgruntled Filipino military man, killing 8 Chinese nationals. Bang bang bang…he said chuckling as he announced to the other stall vendors we were from the Philippines. He was very cordial and quick to get the items. It was a good thing that I had a picture of the stamp I wanted on my phone.

China has slowly evolved from a hard core communist to a quasi-democracy/capitalist country. Although with some restrictions, you can do whatever you want in China. Although they need to smile more, it's people are now tourist friendly. I learned many things in our short visit to China. I learned to respect their people and culture and to admire the many wonderful things they have contributed to the world. Basing on what I saw and experience, China's economy will surpass that of the United States in the next 20 years. Indeed, the dragon has awakened, and we, the rest of the world are now trembling.

Korean Anthem Composer in Meter Cover

2010-08-24T06:40:00.000-07:00

The National anthem of South Korea is called 'Aegukga' which literally means "The Song of Love for the Country". Even though Aegukga is sung as the national anthem, the song has not yet achieved official status. The music of the National anthem of South Korea was composed by Ahn Eaktay but there is no surety about who actually wrote the lyrics of the anthem. Some believe that the lyrics were written either by Yun Chiho, a politician or by An Chang-Ho, pro-independence leader and educator.

The original lyrics of the national anthem was probably written around 1907 in order to boost a spirit of loyalty and independence, as the nation encountered threats of foreign assault. Over the years, the lyrics have been revised by various leaders and evolved into what is sung today. Initially the anthem was sung to the tune of the Scottish folk song, Auld Lang Syne, taught by the American missionaries. However, a Korean composer named Ahn Eak-Tai considered it inappropriate to use the tune of another country's folk song and therefore composed a new tune. The new tune was adopted by the government in exile and since the founding of the Republic of Korea in 1948; Koreans have sung the Aegukga to the new music at all official events.

Three years following the liberation from Japanese rule, the new 'Aegukga' was adopted under the Presidential Decree of 1948, by the then President Syngman Rhee. The National anthem of South Korea consists of four verses with chorus, although only the first verse and chorus are generally sung. The anthem is a national symbol of South Korea which has been sung by Koreans for almost a century, to commemorate the patriotism of the nation's ancestors.

Above is the Korean anthem composer Ahn Eak-tai in meter cover in 2006.

"Jerusalem of Gold"

2010-08-22T11:20:00.000-07:00

Naomi Shemer (1930-2004) - the most readily identified artist in the world of Israeli music following the establishment of the State. She wrote and composed hundreds of songs that became Israeli classics thanks to her wonderful integration of words and melodies. Her most famous song - "Jerusalem of Gold" - has become, in fact, a second "National Anthem" in Israel.

Jerusalem of Gold" (Yerushalayim Shel Zahav) was written by Naomi Shemer in 1967. The original song described the Jewish people's 2000-year longing to return to Jerusalem; Shemer added a final verse after the Six-Day War to celebrate Jerusalem's unification under Israeli control.

Naomi Shemer wrote the original song for the Israeli Music Festival on 15 May 1967, the night after Israel's nineteenth Independence Day. She chose the then-unknown Shuli Nathan to sing the song. At that time, the Old City was under Jordanian rule; Jews had been barred from entering, and many holy sites had been desecrated. Only three weeks after the song was published, the Six-Day War broke out. The song was the battle cry and morale booster of the Israeli troops. Shemer even sang it for them before the war and festival, making them among the first in the world to hear it.

On 7 June, the Israel Defense Forces captured the eastern part of Jerusalem and the Old City from the Jordanians. When Shemer heard the paratroopers singing "Jerusalem of Gold" at the Western Wall, she wrote a final verse, reversing the phrases of lamentation found in the second verse. The line about shofars sounding from the Temple Mount is a reference to an event that actually took place on 7 June.

The song has been translated loosely into many languages. It was also chosen as the "Song of the Year" in Israel in 1967. The song is the corps song of the Blue Stars Drum and Bugle Corps. The corps sings it before every competition.

The stamp above (block) features Naomi Shemer singing issued in 2004. Below is Shemer,part of a sheet of musician, composers, poets and singers.

"God Bless America", America's Unofficial Anthem

2010-08-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

With this 2010 stamp, the U.S. Postal Service honors Kate Smith, the celebrated singer and entertainer whose signature song, “God Bless America” (composed by Irving Berlin), has been called America´s unofficial national anthem. The stamp art duplicates artwork created for the cover of a CD titled “Kate Smith: The Songbird of the South.” The artwork was based on a photograph of Smith taken in the 1960s.

Berlin originally wrote the song in 1918 while serving in the U.S. Army at Camp Upton in Yaphank, New York, but decided that it did not fit in a revue called Yip Yip Yaphank, so he set it aside. The lyrics at that time included the line, "Make her victorious on land and foam, God bless America..." as well as "Stand beside her and guide her, to the right with the light from above."

Music critic Jody Rosen comments that a 1906 Jewish dialect novelty song, "When Mose with His Nose Leads the Band", contains a six-note fragment that is "instantly recognizable as the opening strains of "God Bless America"". He interprets this as an example of Berlin's "habit of interpolating bits of half-remembered songs into his own numbers." Berlin, born Israel Baline, had himself written several Jewish-themed novelty tunes.

In 1938, with the rise of Hitler, Berlin, who was Jewish, and a first-generation European immigrant, felt it was time to revive it as a "peace song", and it was introduced on an Armistice Day broadcast in 1938 sung by Kate Smith, on her radio show. Berlin had made some minor changes; by this time, "to the right" might have been considered a call to the political right, so he substituted "through the night" instead. He also provided an introduction that is now rarely heard but which Smith always used: "While the storm clouds gather far across the sea / Let us swear allegiance to a land that's free / Let us all be grateful for a land so fair, / As we raise our voices in a solemn prayer."

More than just the dramatic words and melody, the arrangement for Kate Smith's performance was accompanied by full band, progressing into a grand march tempo, with trumpets triple reinforcing the harmonies between stanzas: the dramatic build-up ends on the final exposed high note, which Kate Smith sang in the solo as a sustained a cappella note, with the band then joining for the finale.

The song was a hit; there was even a movement to make "God Bless America" the national anthem of the United States. However, there was strong opposition by conservative southerners as well as conservatives who lived in rural areas where there were no Jews living in it, stating that because Irving Berlin was a foreigner and a Jew, that they would not accept their national anthem to be composed by a member of the minority class. Congress would have had to repeal the "Star Spangled Banner" in both houses of congress by two-thirds of the votes, which they lacked to this very day.

Jenneval- Belgian Anthem Lyricist

2010-08-20T21:06:00.000-07:00

Louis Alexandre Dechet (Lyon, 20 January 1801 - Lier, 18 October 1830) was a French actor and is known as author of the text of the Brabançonne, the Belgian national anthem. His pseudonym was Jenneval, possibly named after the drama Jenneval, ou le Barnevelt français (1769) of Louis Sébastien Mercier.

Dechet worked in Ajaccio, Marseille and in 1826 at the Paris Odéon. Via Rijsel he finally came to Brussels, where he played at La Monnaie. In 1828 he returned to Paris in order to work at the Comédie Française, but returned to Brussels immediately after the July Revolution in 1830. He there served with the city guard which was responsible for maintaining law and order.

Dechet is said to have written the text of the Brabançonne during the first revolutionary gatherings at the café "L'Aigle d'Or" in the Brussels Greepstraat in August of 1830, shortly after the performance of the opera La Muette de Portici, which triggered the Belgian revolution.

During the Belgian Revolution Dechet became a volunteer in the revolutionary army and joined the corps of Frenchman Charles Niellon. He died during a combat against the Dutch near Lier. On the Martelarenplein in Brussels a column honouring Dechet is to be found, which was created by Alfred Crick and inaugurated in 1897.

The postal card above shows Louis Alexandre Dechet aka Jenneval, the Belgian anthem lyricist (French Version).

Hymn to Liberty- The Longest National Anthem in the World

2010-08-16T05:10:00.000-07:00

The Hymn to Liberty (Ýmnos is tīn Eleftherian) is a poem written by Dionýsios Solomós in 1823 that consists of 158 stanzas and is the longest national anthem in the world, set to music by Nikolaos Mantzaros. In 1865, the first two stanzas officially became the national anthem of Greece and later also that of the Republic of Cyprus. According to the Constitution of Cyprus, the Greek national anthem is used in the presence of the Greek Cypriot president (or other Greek Cypriot), and the Turkish national anthem is used in the presence of the Turkish Cypriot vice-president. Cyprus stopped using the Turkish national anthem, however, when Turkish Cypriots broke away from the Government in 1963. Hymn to Liberty was also the Greek Royal Anthem (since 1864).

The hymn was set to music in 1865 by the Corfiot operatic composer Nikolaos Mantzaros, who composed two choral versions, a long one for the whole poem and a short one for the first two stanzas; the latter is the one adopted as the National Anthem of Greece. This anthem has been performed at every closing ceremony of an Olympics, to pay tribute to Greece as the birthplace of the modern Games.

Above is a postal card of the Greek national anthem in French.

The National Anthem of Australia

2010-08-16T02:00:00.000-07:00

A prolific composer, Scottish-born Peter Dodds McCormick was moved to compose a national anthem for Australia when, having attended a concert of the world's anthems, there was no anthem for Australia. His original lyrics heavily emphasized Australia's ties to Britain (as Australia was a British colony at the time). Upon Australia's inauguration as a separate Commonwealth on January 1, 1901, the song was performed, but the British "God Save the Queen" was still the official anthem of Australia. At this time, the third verse of McCormick's original work was changed.

While "Advance Australia Fair" remained popular with the people in the decades following, no official national anthem other than "God Save the Queen" was declared. In 1974 the Australian Bureau of Statistics conducted a national opinion poll of 60,000 and in 1977 a plebiscite for a national song was conducted. On each occasion, Advance Australia Fair was the preferred option (the other choices were the existing anthem "God Save the Queen" and the popular national songs "Song of Australia" and "Waltzing Mathilda"), and it was in consideration of such support that Advance Australia Fair was proclaimed as the national anthem by the Governor-General on 19 April 1984. From the original five-verse song, only the first and third verses are the official national anthem, with slight changes to make the song more gender-inclusive.

Peter Dodds McCormick (1834? – 30 October 1916), a Scottish-born schoolteacher, was the composer of the Australian national anthem Advance Australia Fair.

Born the son of a seaman at Port Glasgow, Scotland, he arrived in Sydney (at that time the principal city of the British colony of New South Wales) in 1855. Details of his earlier years, prior to his arrival in Australia, are shadowy. He spent most of his life employed by the NSW Education Department. In 1863 he was appointed teacher-in charge of at St Mary's National School and went on to teach at the Presbyterian denominational school in the Sydney suburb of Woolloomooloo in 1867. He then moved to Dowling Plunkett Street Public School in 1878 where he remained until 1885.

McCormick was heavily involved in the Scottish Presbyterian Church and was active in a number of community and benevolent organisations. He began his involvement with Sydney's St Stephen's Church as a stonemason, working on the now demolished Phillip Street Church (where Martin Place now stands). The Rev Hugh Darling was so impressed with his singing on the job he asked him to join the choir. McCormick's musical ability led him to becoming the precentor of the Presbyterian Church of NSW, which gave him the opportunity to conduct very large massed choirs. He was also convenor of the Presbyterian Church Assembly's Committee on Psalmody. Also a talented composer, he published around 30 patriotic and Scottish songs, some of which became very popular. Included in his collected works was Advance Australia Fair, which was first performed in public by Andrew Fairfax at the St Andrew's Day concert of the Highland Society on 30 November 1878.

McCormick died in 1916 at his home in the Sydney suburb of Waverley and he was buried at Rookwood Cemetery. He had no children; he was survived by his second wife Emma. His obituary in the Sydney Morning Herald stated: "Mr. McCormick established a reputation with the patriotic song, Advance Australia Fair, which ... has come to be recognised as something in the nature of an Australian National Anthem".

The postal card above features the lyrics of the Australian anthem "Advance Australia Fair"

National Anthem of Manchukuo Empire

2010-08-15T00:45:00.000-07:00

The Manchu State (Manchukuo, Manshūkoku) was a puppet state in Manchuria and eastern Inner Mongolia. The region was the historical homeland of the Manchus, who founded the Qing Dynasty of China. In 1931, the region was seized by Japan following the Mukden Incident and in 1932, a puppet government was created, with Puyi, the last Qing emperor, installed as the nominal regent and emperor.

In 1934, Manchukuo became an empire ("The Great Manchu Empire") and the new emporer, Henry Puyi (it was under his reign in China that the "Gong Jin'ou" anthem was written) comissioned a new anthem, "Mǎnzhōu dìguó guógē" (National Anthem of Manchukuo Empire) to be written by Zheng Xiao-xun, the same person who wrote the previous Manchurian anthem. The Japanese wished for the anthem to be translated into Japanese, so that both Chinese and Japanese could sing the anthem, but Zheng died in 1938. The new anthem was eventually adopted in 1942 and was in use until 1945. The composer of the anthem was Kosaku Yamada.

Kosaku Yamada (9 June 1886 - 29 December 1965) was a Japanese composer and conductor.

In many Western reference books his name is given as Kósçak Yamada. During his music study in the Imperial German capital of Berlin from 1910-13 he hated the moment when people laughed at him because his "normal" transliteration of his first name "Kosaku" sounded like the Italian "cosa" meaning "what" or "thing" + the German "Kuh" meaning "cow"; which resulted in his choosing a somewhat fanciful transliteration of Kósçak Yamada ever since. Yamada was born and died in Tokyo.

After studying at the Tokyo Music School, he left Japan for Germany where he enrolled in the Berlin Hochschule and learnt composition, before going to the USA for two years. Yamada left about 1600 pieces of music. Especially, songs (Lieder) amount to 700 pieces of music excluding songs for schools, municipalities and companies. They were performed and recorded by many singers which include Kathleen Battle, Ernst Haefliger and Yoshikazu Mera. His opera Kurofune (The Black Ships) is regarded as one of the famous Japanese operas.

As a conductor, Yamada made an effort to introduce many orchestral works to Japan. He was the first performer in Japan of Debussy's Prélude à l'après-midi d'un faune, Dvořák's Symphony No. 9, Gershwin's An American in Paris, Mosolov's Iron Foundry, Sibelius' Finlandia, Shostakovich's Symphony No. 1, Johann Strauss II's An der schönen blauen Donau, and Wagner's Siegfried Idyll.

The postal card above features a special postmark to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of Manchukuo empire anthem composer Kosaku Yamada (1886-1986).

The National Anthem of the United Arab Emirates

2010-08-14T10:34:00.000-07:00

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven emirates situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Southwest Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman and Saudi Arabia. The UAE consists of seven states, termed emirates, which are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. The capital and second largest city of the United Arab Emirates is Abu Dhabi. It is also the country's center of political, industrial and cultural activities.

Before 1971, the UAE were known as the Trucial States or Trucial Oman, in reference to a nineteenth-century truce between Britain and several Arab Sheikhs. The name Pirate Coast was also used in reference to the area's emirates in the 18th to early 20th century. The political system of the United Arab Emirates, based on the 1971 Constitution, comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. Islam is the official religion and Arabic is the official language.

The United Arab Emirates has the world's sixth largest oil reserves and possesses one of the most developed economies in the Middle East. It is currently the thirty-sixth largest economy by nominal GDP, and is one of the richest countries in the world by per capita gross domestic product, with a nominal per capita GDP of $54,607 as per the IMF. The country is fourteenth largest in purchasing power per capita and has a relatively high Human Development Index for the Asian continent, ranking 31st globally. The United Arab Emirates is classified as a high income developing economy by the IMF.

The United Arab Emirates is a founding member of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, and a member state of the Arab League. It is also a member of the United Nations, Organisation of the Islamic Conference, the OPEC, and the World Trade Organization.

The national anthem of the UAE, "Ishy Bilady" (Long Live My Nation) was without words (and a classic example of the style of anthem known as "Arab fanfare") until 1996, when words were written for it by Aref Al Sheikh Abdullah Al Hassan. The author of the music, Mohamad Abdel Wahab, also composed the music for the national anthem of Tunisia and the royal anthem of Libya (in use 1951-1969).

The souvenir sheet above featured the score of the national anthem issued in 1996 during the Silver Jubilee National Day of the UAE