The Anthem Philatelist

1770 was the birth year of one of the most influential composer to have ever lived- the most frequently performed composer in the world. This year marks the 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven, who was born in Bonn, Germany, in 1770.   I have been collecting composer stamps for more then 20 years and Beethoven stamps are one of my favorites. There had been more than 350 LVB stamps issued and more are coming this year being his birth year. Beethoven's compositions are varied and many like his fiery concertos like the 5th.  My favorites are his sedate piano compositions like the Moonlight and Pathetique sonata. Stamp above issued by Guernsey depicts a large bronze statue of Beethoven, which stands on the Munsterplatz in Bonn, Beethoven's birthplace.  Issue date - 21 January 2020.    Date issued 02.01.2020 Motif: A stylized portrait of Beethoven superimposed with a neon clef. Beethoven’s handwritten signature “Bthvn”, with which he s...

I first read of Sharjah in my early stamp collecting days when it featured the hard-to-obtain  Beethoven stamp which I collect until this day (There are more than 200 stamps of Beethoven and I have at least 150 of them). In the 70's when the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was not yet rich as it is today, novelty stamps would be featured by that country to raise some extra revenues.   I got their novelty Beethoven stamp on gold and silver foil which was issued in 1970. This stamp cost around P500 today.  During those days, I memorized all the 7 emirates by heart never had I imagined that I would be visiting 4 of them someday.   Sharjah is a beautiful city less than an hour drive from Dubai .  I stayed at Hilton hotel at very cheap rates at Booking.com which I booked a month in advance. I have booked through this site in my previous travels to Paris, Yogyakarta and Siem Reap and they give "secret deals" to frequent "bookers".  I was lucky to have ...

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...