Anthem Covers with Special Postmarks

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Glimpses of Old Cebu: Images of the Colonial Era

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"Glimpses of Old Cebu: Images of the Colonial Era" is a 276-page coffee table book of nearly 600 of the best photographs, postcards , stereoviews and lantern glass slides of Cebu and its many towns taken between 1870-1945. More than just a mere showcasing of rare, never-before-seen images, the book also provides a treasure trove of information accompanying nearly every picture. The author, Lucy Urgello Miller has been collecting vintage Philippine postcards and photographs for over 20 years, the thrust of her collection being Cebu . She acquired 90% of her Cebu collection in the United States where she is living with her husband Richard "Rick" Miller. Most of the collection was bought at antique postcards shows. Lucy has about 1,000 pictures and postcards on Cebu but she selected only the best and most interesting for this book. Mommy Gingging, Lucy and my wife Grace A blue-blooded Theresian, Lucy spent her entire education from kinder...
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My Favorite Cebuano Classical Pianists

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3. Ai ma 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  headed by Petite Garcia 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 rec ord the comple...
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The National Anthem of Montenegro

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Before Montenegro's union with Serbia in 1918, "Ubavoj nam Crnoj Gori" (To our beautiful Montenegro) was used by the Kingdom of Montenegro as an anthem. The lyricist, Jovan Sundečić , was a priest and secretary to Prince Nicholas I. The music was written by Jovo Ivanišević (adapted by Anton Schulz). The anthem was in use from 1870 to 1918.   On July 12, 2004, while still in federation with Serbia, Montenegro adopted new national symbols. The new anthem " Oj svijetla majska zoro " (Oh, Bright Dawn of May) has a long history as a folk song in Montenegro, dating back to the early 1930s. The new arrangement was based on a harmonization by Zarko Mikovic and the lyrics were written by Sekula Drljević .   Sekula Drljević , (1884 – 1945) was a Montenegrin politician, lawyer, and author. His political views and ideological aims ranged wildly and changed frequently during his career in politics. Initially a fiery proponent of Serb unification, Drljević then became...
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Gaming on Stamps

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    Since the 1980’s, the UK has had a rich history of video game classics, which carried on through to the 1990’s and to this very day.  And to celebrate that very rich history, the Royal Mail are releasing a set of 12 stamps each celebrating classic series from Tomb Raider , Dizzy, Micro Machines, Lemmings, Worms, Wipeout , Populous and the greatest football game of all-time, Sensible Soccer . Each of the limited edition stamps feature imagery and screenshots from some of the games most memorable moments in UK gaming and these are sure to be on the top of the list for many collectors alike.  Each of the stamps was carefully selected by games industry body UKIE and veteran video games journalist Julian Rignall . A spokesperson for Royal Mail , Phillip Parker had this to say on the announcement of the limited edition stamps “ UK has been at the forefront of the video games industry for decades, ”, Parker added “. In the 1980s and 90s young designers grapple...
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The National Anthem of Paraguay

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Paraguayos, República o Muerte (Paraguayans, The Republic or Death!) is the national anthem of Paraguay . The lyrics were written by Francisco Acuña de Figueroa (who also wrote Orientales, la Patria o la tumba, the national anthem of Uruguay) under the presidency of Carlos Antonio López , who at the time delegated Bernardo Jovellanos and Anastasio González to ask Figueroa to write the anthem (Jovellanos and González were commissioners of the Paraguayan government in Uruguay). The anthem was officially finished by Figueroa on May 20, 1846. It still remains unclear who was responsible for the music. Some sources claim that Fre nchman Francisco de Dupuis was the composer, while others cite Francisco Acuña de Figueroa as the composer. Other sources claim that the music was composed by Francisco José Debali, repeating the team of the Uruguayan national anthem. What it is known for sure is that in 1933, the Paraguayan composer Remberto Giménez re-arranged and developed the final version o...
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The National Anthem of Yugoslavia

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" Hej Slaveni " was composed in the mid nineteenth century by a Slovak in response to the loss of cultural identity in his homeland. Taking inspiration from the Polish anthem (which the melody is almost identical to), he composed an anthem that soon became popular with the whole Slavic community, in fact becoming the anthem of Slovakia during World War II (with Slovak words).    Being a confederation of mainly Slavonic states , the song seemed to be a natural fit for post-royalist Yugoslavia. It was sung at the first meetings of the resistance movement (later, the government), and became the temporary national anthem upon the re-establishment of Yugoslavia after the Axis defeat. A search was undertaken for a permanent anthem, but "Hej Slaveni" remained the most popular choice with the citizens; it was declared the temporary anthem in 1977, and was finally made official in 1988.   After most of the members of the Yugoslav federation had declared independence in the...
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Casimiro del Rosario on Stamps

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Casimiro Villacin del Rosario ( 13 Jun, 1896- 15 Sep, 1982) is a foremost Filipino physicist, astronomer and meteorologist.   Dr. del Rosario is known for his researches on ultraviolet light of different wavelengths, effect of radioactive radiation on Euglena , high voltage electrical discharges in a vacuum, and many others. His works have been published in international journals such as the American Physics Review and the Journal of Franklin Institute .   He is the co-founder of the Bartol Research Foundation in Philadelphia, an institution which did pioneering researches in physics.   Dr. del Rosario was the recipient of a Presidential Award in 1965 for his contributions to physics. He was made Director of the Philippine Weather Bureau for 11 years, and the first vice-chairman of the National Science Development Board in 1958. He was conferred as a National Scientist in 1984.   Dr. Casimiro del Rosario was born on June 13, 1896 in Bantayan , Cebu to Pantale...
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