Read from popherald.com: 'Brancusi, Constantin’s 135th birthday à la Google Doodle style'. Also, cool images with his modernist sculpture artwork on maximum cards, stamps and postcards from Romania and France.

Please read: http://www.popherald.com/brancusi-constantin-google-doodle/5019

You, and me, and everybody else on "God's Green Earth" could make our own interpretations and comments upon the artwork of the "father of the modern[ist?] sculpture", Constantin Brâncuşi (Romanian pronunciation: [konstanˈtin brɨnˈkuʃʲ].
It would be interesting and inciting, in the variety of the different and even contradictory opinions of ours.

Let's read what Constantin Brâncuşi himself said:
"Brâncuşi on his own work

(French) "Il y a des imbéciles qui définissent mon œuvre comme abstraite, pourtant ce qu'ils qualifient d'abstrait est ce qu'il y a de plus réaliste, ce qui est réel n'est pas l'apparence mais l'idée, l'essence des choses." [15]		"There are idiots who define my work as abstract; yet what they call abstract is what is most realistic. What is real is not the appearance, but the idea, the essence of things." [DORIN'S underlining]
(French) "Ne cherchez pas de mystères; je vous apporte la joie pure."[citation needed]		"Don’t look for mysteries; I bring you pure joy."
(Romanian) "Am șlefuit materia pentru a afla linia continuă. Și când am constatat că n‑o pot afla, m‑am oprit; parcă cineva nevăzut mi‑a dat peste mâini." [16]		"I ground matter to find the continuous line. And when I realized I could not find it, I stopped, as if an unseen someone had slapped my hands."
(Romanian) "Muncește ca un sclav, poruncește ca un rege, creează ca un zeu."[citation needed]		"Work like a slave; command like a king; create like a god."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brancusi

Most "net surfers" might not have the interest and the patience ("the stomach"...or "the brain"? Aw, come on! People lack time and interest, most of the time - not the grey matter) to read an ENTIRE article, such as from wikipedia.org, on ANY subject whatsoever. Elementary, dear "Whatso"...
What I am trying to do is to provide such oh-so-busy readers with at least a meaningful fragment from such an article - again, on ANY subject.  In this case, about Constantin Brâncuşi.


"Constantin Brâncuşi (Romanian pronunciation: [konstanˈtin brɨnˈkuʃʲ]; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian-born sculptor who made his career in France. As a child he displayed an aptitude for carving wooden farm tools. Formal studies took him first to Bucharest, then to Munich, then to the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. His abstract style emphasizes clean geometrical lines that balance forms inherent in his materials with the symbolic allusions of representational art. Famous Brâncuşi works include the Sleeping Muse (1908), The Kiss (1908), Prometheus (1911), Mademoiselle Pogany (1913), The Newborn (1915), Bird in Space (1919) and The Column of the Infinite (Coloana infinitului), popularly known as The Endless Column (1938). Brâncuşi is considered a pioneer of modernism."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brancusi

Now, if you want to read more, at wikipedia.org or any other source, please do so.
Otherwise, the above quotes are what I am submitting to your attention, just in case you want to read at least that, as a nutshell, as the crux of the matter, as the essence of this artist.

Romania-France joint-issue stamps about Constantin Brancusi; notice that the maximum card above has a Romanian stamp and First Day of Issue pictorial postmark.

The maxicard below has a French stamp and corresponding postmark.

I saw this in a visit to Washington, D.C.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Gallery_of_Art_Washington

No, this is not Pisa - the photo from the postcard was not verticalized properly in manufacturing.

Now, the same  The Column of the Infinite (Coloana infinitului), photographed in even more vivid colors by the company Kruger (then- West Germany):

The problem with the wonderfully-colored Kruger postcards is that they obviously used a highly-acidic, quickly-deteriorating paper for postcard backing - just look how it appears now, after some 30 years:

That should teach YOU a lesson, you people who EXPECT and DEMAND that ALL your stamps, postcards, labels and any other paper memorabilia MUST resist for a long time.

Be happy if your LIFE resists for a long time, and don't expect the acidic paper items to do the same.

A smart thing to do is to scan or photograph whatever paper item is worth the effort, and immortalize it, until the next TUNGUSKA-level global cataclysm. :)

In the above image, you see a series of 3 stamps, and 2 more stamps (obliterated/ postmarked/ circulated) from another series, which series I apparently don't have anymore (I had the complete series when I was living in Romania; I have also visited the Targu-Jiu statuary complex that you see in the blue stamps above).

See that series here, in a cool website whose webmaster is my fellow stamp collector/ philatelist, the Romanian-Swiss Victor Manta:

http://www.artonstamps.org/Countries/Romania/Brancusi/romanian3.htm

See that 40 bani stamp above, "The Kiss" sculpture, on a pink background?

I have intentionally posted it here, at the end, for MEME purposes.

Let's say that this is my entry for today at Happy Pink Saturday meme! :)

I apologize if anybody considers that my...entry is too long, but, hey! It's Brancusi! :)

========================================

Happy Pink Saturday!

^{Please visit "Pretty in pink"/ "Show us your pink" [objects, that is :)] meme here:}

^{http://howsweetthesound.typepad.com/my_weblog/}

Are diamonds forever? BBC Country Profile: Botswana. Diamonds are the main export. Also, see WWF maximum cards/ maxicards/ dorincards with Red Lechwe antelope (Kobus l. leche)

What do YOU know about Botswana?

[crickets...]

Read this from BBC: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1068674.stm

"Geographically the country is flat and up to 70% of Botswana is covered by the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the south and southeast, Namibia to the west and north, and Zimbabwe to the northeast. It meets Zambia at a single point.

A small, landlocked country of just over two million people, Botswana was one of the poorest countries in Africa at the time it gained independence from Britain in 1966, with a GDP per capita of about US$70. Botswana has transformed itself, moving into the ranks of middle-income status to become one of the fastest growing economies in the world with its average annual growth rate of about 9 percent with a GDP (purchasing power parity) per capita of about $14,800 (2010 IMF estimate)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botswana

Notice the cool, unusual, triangular postmark!

How many color variations of Lechwe do you think there are?

Don't sweat it: 3.

Red, Brown and Black.

There's no Khaki Lechwe, trust me.

"Red Lechwe or Zambesi Lechwe (Kobus l. leche) - most of range. Overall tawny-fawn with black to front of front legs."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Lechwe

===============

 Do you like my website http://dorincard.blogspot.com?

If yes, then please take a moment and write a quick review on www.alexa.com (click the widget below, then scroll down in alexa.com and click the "Write a review" golden button - you'll be golden for me!)

Thank you very much! :)

Alexa - Review Widget

 

However, if you DON'T like my website, then...

==================

Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

Please visit: http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com/ (wait until Beth posts the today's Linky tool for the meme, then make your entry, if you want to join).

Read from mashable.com - HOW TO: Jump-Start Your Career by Becoming an Online Influencer. Also, dorincards that I created with folded cards ('greeting cards') and my personalized stamp from zazzle, featuring The Grey Wolf (Canis lupus).

Please read this very interesting article: HOW TO: Jump-Start Your Career by Becoming an Online Influencer

Online influencer and promoter (that involves e-learning, too, in a fascinating way).

I try to do that with philately, and especially with maximaphily. :) 


Be the blue fish, in your School of Thought.

Find good places and times for action, and good places to relax/ chillax.

Then others will follow, for their own benefit.

Alpha male, alpha female...it's a natural thing.

These wolf maximum cards/ maxicards/ dorincards will probably remain the last batch that I have ever sent for postmarking, without scratching the plastic-coated zazzle stamps.

The stamps may appear to be affixed OVER the postmarks, but in fact the "not superior"-quality ink (unlike StazOn ink) was not absorbed by the plastic coating of the zazzle stamps.

In subsequent batches, I carefully scratched the zazzle stamps with hard dishpad, where the postmark was supposed to come and the ink to be absorbed satisfactory enough.

Whose [not who's] fault is it that the postmark was applied upside-down?

"I don't care -  I just work here, in the Post Office" - was that the line of thinking?

Aw, come on! Considerate thinking goes a long way...

Don't just postmark absent-mindedly, people!

The absence of the mind is a terrible thing...:)

1) I could postcardize these anytime by cutting them in two; the image below is from before I sent it for postmarking:

2) Or, I can glue the two parts of the folded card to qualify it as a "postcard".

3) Or, I could unfold the folded card and stiffen it with one or several large mailing label(s), creating a non-folded big postcard.

I could even send it then by mail, for USPS to validate it as a "real postcard", really circulated by mail to whatever destination in the world I chose, including the Amundsen-Scott Base in Antarctica! :)

At this point, all I would need for international mailing is to affix 98 cents worth of stamps on the address side (the back side of what you see here with my zazzle stamp).

Guest Heart Thursday meme! Also: not really mute, just less vocal - The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor), dorincard created with a rare educational card (not a "real postcard")

How many hearts do YOU see in this image of a dorincard (in this case, the dorincard is a non-traditional maximum card/ maxicard)?
I see 2.
Hint: they are NOT bi-dimensional, 2-D in the context of the image.

One heart is suggested by a joint venture. To find such a heart, you have to look for a DEER one, after you get tired of living the WILD LIFE, using your EAGLE vision, multi-TUSKing and wandering from BUSH to BUSH [there are two bushes in the postmark, I might specify].

The other heart is suggested by a temporary pose, like The Cotton Tale of  The Missing Chunk. Not cotton-tail , the rabbit.
There might be many incomplete, fragmented, or broken hearts out here, "in the wild".
How about "in the domestic"? Domestique...
:)

"The Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) is a species of swan, and thus a member of the duck, goose and swan family Anatidae. It is native to much of Europe and Asia, and (as a rare winter visitor) the far north of Africa. It is also an introduced species in North America, Australasia and southern Africa. The name 'mute' derives from it being less vocal than other swan species.^[1][2][3] Measuring 125 to 170 centimetres in length, this large swan is wholly white in plumage with an orange bill bordered with black. It is recognisable by its pronounced knob atop the bill."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mute_swan

===========

Guest Heart Thursday #45

http://clytie-randomhearts.blogspot.com/

Welcome to Guest Heart Thursday -
A place to share YOUR hearts!

BBC: 'Japan halts whale hunt after chase by protester'. But I don't halt the maximum card hunt. Slideshow with maximum cards/ maxicards/ dorincards, etc. from my photobucket album.

http://s289.photobucket.com/albums/ll201/dorincard/?start=all

Read from BBC:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12477398

============

Please visit and join ABC Wednesday meme!

http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/

E is for Excellence, Ecology [yes, Roger], etc. [et caetera, not ec cetera :) ]

Try to spend more time doing what you really love - don't postpone for later!

"Later" may never come.

Enjoy while you can, whatever you enjoy! 

Such as a hobby, to maintain your mental and spiritual equilibrium.

You could even excel at it.

Rail against the Keeling zone: The Cocos Buff-banded Rail (Gallirallus philippensis andrewsi). WWF maximum cards/ maxicards/ dorincards from Cocos/Keeling Islands. Also a list of memes for each of the 7 days.

"The Cocos Buff-banded Rail, Gallirallus philippensis andrewsi, is an endangered subspecies of the Buff-banded Rail endemic to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, an Australian Offshore Territory in the central-eastern Indian Ocean.^[2] The local Cocos Malay name of the bird is Ayam Hutan("Chicken of the Forest").^[3]"

^"Population size is estimated as 850-1000 birds, with a population density of 7-8 birds/ha.^[4]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cocos_Buff-banded_Rail}

So 7-8 birds/ha...Huh? So there are fewer birds, 850-1000, than the number of stories that this woman told: "Scheherazade (pronounced /ʃəˌhɛrəˈzɑːdᵊ/), sometimes Scheherazadea, Persian transliteration Shahrazad or Shahrzād (Persian: شهرزاد Šahrzād, Arabic Šahrazād), is a legendary Persian queen and the storyteller of One Thousand and One Nights."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheherazade

=======================

Please visit the World Bird Wednesday meme!

http://pineriverreview.blogspot.com/2011/02/world-bird-wednesday-xiii.html?showComment=1297808501189#c4454000911280491119

Here's a list of various memes for each of the 7 days:

http://l.wbx.me/l/?instId=54ea593a-1f58-499a-b8a7-792698221e1a&token=57f05a5bb1a360a4918974a9c8a7a648719085710000012e1eb6b606&u=http://www.memeaholics.blogspot.com

Ruby Tuesday (meme). Not creepy: ʻIʻiwi or Scarlet Hawaiian Honeycreeper (Vestiaria coccinea). Dorincards: one created with a folded card, and the other one with a cut-out from a book.

"The ʻIʻiwi or Scarlet Hawaiian Honeycreeper (Vestiaria coccinea) is a Hawaiian"hummingbird-niched" species, of the Hawaiian honeycreepers, subfamily, Drepanidinae, and the only member of the genus Vestiaria. One of the most plentiful species of this family, many of which are endangered or extinct, the ʻiʻiwi is a highly recognizable symbol of Hawaiʻi."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I'iwi

================

Please visit and join The Ruby Tuesday meme at http://workofthepoet.blogspot.com/

BBC: First Valentine: Lasting legacy of 500-year-old love. Also, "Hellelil and Hildebrand: The meeting on the turret stair", my maximum card idea, my entry for Happy Blue Monday! (meme). Happy Valentine's (Voluntyne's) Day

Read from BBC (but please read also this blogpost, while you are at it): http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-12419712
"In 1477 Margery wrote a letter to her John pleading with him not to give her up, despite her parents' refusal to increase her dowry.

Addressing her "ryght welebeloued Voluntyne" (right well-beloved Valentine), she promised to

 be a good wife, adding: "Yf that ye loffe me as Itryste verely that ye do 

ye will not leffe me" (If you love me, I trust.. you will not leave

 me)."

==========

I would like to create a maximum  card/ maxicard/ dorincard with this Irish postcard, showing the Meeting on the Turret Stairs, 1864 (also known as Hellelil and Hildebrand), a famous painting by Sir Frederic William Burton RHA (8 April 1816 – 16 March 1900). 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_William_Burton

To me, this great painting is a whole book/drama condensed in one image.

I could write quite a few observations about body language and the meaning of this image, as a whole, and in specific detail.

But soakin' [so can] you. Please comment, will you?

Everybody would have his own interpretation of this, more or less original, more or less credible.

Well, after you think about it, read this:

http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/people/meeting_of_turret_stairs.htm

I should research if there is already a stamp (Ireland/ any other country?) with it, then create a maximum card, if possible.

:)

Here's an interesting postmark of a knight in shining armor (don't worry about the stamp -  I did not have a matching one available):

=============

Happy Blue Monday! (meme)

Please visit:  http://smilingsally.blogspot.com/

Fwd: FREE Maximum Card Journal

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B1IUYti4j8IdNTEzMGFmNGUtNjcwMC00MWQxLTgwOWYtOWI1ZWRmOTIzZThm&hl=en

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

From: TERRYW7633@comcast.net
Date: February 13, 2011 17:20:20 EST
To:
Subject: FREE Maximum Card Journal

Fellow collector of Maximum Cards,

The Maximum Card Study Unit (MACSU) of North America has recently published a short, nineteen-page Journal about Maximum Card collecting.   This Journal is FREE and has been attached to this email.

Please read this copy of the North American Maximaphily Journal and feel free to pass it on to any stamp collectors that you think might be interested. 

I would appreciate any feedback that you can offer regarding the journal.

Terry Watson, President

Maximum Card Study Unit