The Anthem Philatelist

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 featu...

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 ...

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...

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 wi...

"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...

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 and stayed for long   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...

In Dallas , we stayed at the hotel where the PacMan was staying, the elegant 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 and boisterous 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...

Does too much excitement make you forgetful...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 super loving wife Grace 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 Tambis who also loves art, was kind enough to accompany me to the Musee d Orsay exhibit.    The Musee d Orsay is a train station created for the Paris International Exposition of 1900 which was transformed into a museum by world renowned architect, Gae Aulenti . It firs t opened to the public in December 9, 1986 with its goal to highlight the art of the western wo...

Today marks the 47th anniverary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy , the 35th 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 si xth 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 ...

A week ago, my wife and I were in California to attend the wedding of our beautiful and kind-hearted 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 a mber, 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 dow ntown St. Hele na . We were greeted in a bustling bar area and comfy lounge serving up handmade cocktails which won...

"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 th...

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) 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 roya...

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...

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 launche...

A few months ago, I visited a link in Delcampe , a stamp and collectibles auction site, about "Cyber Philately: Computer Stamps- from Abacus to Internet", and 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 my second year high school in UP Cebu , my dad gifted me from Japan , my first computer- the Casio PB-300 , a pocket computer with a built in thermal printer. To my knowledge, it was 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 in UP Cebu.   Only a hand...