Saunder's Gull (Larus saundersi) - maximum card from Vietnam, mailed later as a naked postcard (no envelope) to me by my friend Nguyen

I like very much this MC, my first from Vietnam. It was sent later, not on the date of the creation of the MC, but that's no problem.

It is really circulated thru the mail, from my friend Nguyen in Vietnam to me in USA - that's a rare thing for a maximum card.

Usually, maximum cards are not circulated as postcards, to avoid postal damage, theft, etc.

They are pure (maybe too pure), only for philatelic purposes, away from the harsh reality of the postal system.

There can be thousands of identical, Postal Administration-issued official maximum cards with a certain design.

But when you receive one as a traveled postcard, with "postal battle scars" maybe, then that is personalized to YOU, as a gesture of friendship between philatelists/stamp collectors. And the favor is returned, of course.

Even better is when you receive or send a UNICATE/UNIKAT/UNICAT maximum card, of which there is only 1 in the world, created by a collector/maximaphilist.

I like to send out nice items, too. Even very nice...

In fact, I should create a blog: "My REVERSE COLLECTION - stamps, postcards, postmarks and maximum cards that I HAVE SENT (not those that I received) to partners/friends from around the world".

In that blog, I will upload images from their online collections , and from my records of what I have sent them.

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

Romanian maximum cards: the Order of the Dragon connection between Sighisoara and Moldovita Monastery

Girl with the Dragon tattoo? Anybody can get that (the tattoo, that is).
How about men with Order of the Dragon induction?

"Central Sighişoara has preserved in an exemplary way the features of a small medieval fortified city; it has been listed by the UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. Each year, a Medieval Festival takes place in the old citadel in July.

View from Villa Franka

Sighişoara is considered to be the most beautiful and well preserved inhabited citadel in Europe,^{[citation needed]} with an authentic medieval architecture. In Eastern Europe, Sighişoara is one of the few fortified towns which are still inhabited. The town is made up of two parts. The medieval stronghold was built on top of a hill and is known as the "Citadel" (Cetate).The lower town lies in the valley of Târnava Mare river."

This 1997 series of stamps from Romania, with beautiful drawings, commemorates 550 years from the death of Vlad II Dracul.
"Vlad II (c. 1390 – December 1447), known as Vlad Dracul ("Vlad the Dragon"), was a voivode (duke) of Wallachia. He reigned from 1436 to 1442, and again from 1443 to 1447. He was the father of Mircea II,Vlad Călugărul, Vlad Ţepeş (also known as "Vlad the Impaler"), and Radu the Handsome. 
All four of his sons would at one time rule Wallachia. Vlad Tepes would go on to become one of the most notorious rulers in history."

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

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


Sighisoara, Romania - maximum cards (notice the different pictorial postmarks).

Order of the Dragon inductees include both Vlad II Dracul and his son, Vlad III Dracula.

"On December 12, 1408, following the Battle of Dobor[5]^[6][7] in which he slaughtered most of Bosnia's nobility, many who had fought the Turks ^[8] Sigismund and his queen, Barbara of Celje, founded the league known today as the Order of the Dragon.^[9][10] Its statutes, written in Latin, call it a society (societas) whose members carry the signum draconis (see below), but assign no name to it. Contemporary records, however, refer to it by a variety of similar if unofficial names, such as Gesellschaft mit dem Trakchen, Divisa seu Societate Draconica, Societate Draconica seu Draconistarum and Fraternitas Draconum.^[11] It was to some extent modelled after the earlier Hungarian monarchical order, the Order of St. George (Societas militae Sancti Georgii), founded by King Carol Robert of Anjou in 1318.^[10] It likewise adopted St. George as its patron saint, whose legendary defeat of a dragon was used as a symbol for the military and religious ethos of the order."

The edict of 1408 describes two insignia to be worn by members of the Order:

" ... we and the faithful barons and magnates of our kingdom shall bear and have, and do choose and agree to wear and bear, in the manner of society, the sign or effigy of the Dragon incurved into the form of a circle, its tail winding around its neck, divided through the middle of its back along its length from the top of its head right to the tip of its tail, with blood [forming] a red cross flowing out into the interior of the cleft by a white crack, untouched by blood, just as and in the same way that those who fight under the banner of the glorious martyr St George are accustomed to bear a red cross on a white field ..." ^[13]

The dragon described here, with its tail coiled around its neck, bears comparison to the ouroboros.^{[citation needed]} On the back of the dragon, from the base of the neck to the tail, is the Red Cross of Saint George, with the entire image on an argent field. The Order's dragon emblem has not survived in any original form, but it has been referenced on coins, art, and in writing."

Notice the Dragon on the outer, upper margin of this medieval saddle.

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

A fresco showing St. George slaying the Dragon, from the Moldovita Monastery, Romania - UNESCO World Heritage Site (Painted Monasteries of Bucovina/Moldova/Romania):

"The Moldoviţa Monastery (Romanian: Mânăstirea Moldoviţa) is a Romanian Orthodox monastery situated in the commune of Vatra Moldoviţei, Suceava County, Moldavia, Romania. The Monastery of Moldoviţa was built in 1532 by Petru Rareş, who was Stefan the Great's illegitimate son. It was founded as a protective barrier against the Muslim Ottoman conquerors from the East.".

"Stephen the Great, the King of Romania [MY NOTE: Prince/Voivode of Moldavia, actually] from 1457 until his death in 1504, fought 36 battles against the Ottoman Empire, winning 34 of them [MY NOTE: not too shabby :) ]. He was very religious and built churches after many victories. Stephen's illegitimate son, Petru Rareş, who ruled Romania [MY NOTE: Prince/Voivode of Moldavia, actually] from 1527-1538 and again from 1541-1546, promoted a new vision for Bukovina churches. He commissioned artists to cover the interiors and exteriors with elaborate frescoes (portraits of saints and prophets, scenes from the life of Jesus).

The best preserved are the monasteries in the towns of Suceviţa, Moldoviţa, Voroneţ, Humor, Suceava, Pătrăuţi, and Probota. Seven of them--including the Monastery of Moldoviţa--were placed on UNESCO World Heritage list in 1993."

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

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Happy PFF (Postcard Friendship Friday)!

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NUCLEAR, not NUKELAR Postcards from Zazzle.com

NUCLEAR, not NUKELAR Postcards from Zazzle.com

Initially, I submitted this design to create a Zazzle custom stamp.

I show you here the response from the Content Review Team at zazzle.com, because it's very instructive as to what can you expect once in a while, when your submission is not approved:

"Dear dorinco,

Thank you for your interest in Zazzle.com, and thank you for publishing products on Zazzle.

Unfortunately, it appears that your product, NUCLEAR, not NUKELAR, contains content that is not suitable for printing at Zazzle.com.

We will be removing this product from the Zazzle Marketplace shortly.

Please help us make our content approval process better by taking this short survey.

The details of the product being removed are listed below:

• Product Title: NUCLEAR, not NUKELAR
• Product Type: Postage
• Product ID: 172770906595570621

• Result: Not Approved
• Policy Violations:

o Design includes material that is not suitable for printing on custom postage

We apologize for the inconvenience, a detailed description of the policies are located here.

If you have any questions or concerns about the review of your product, please emailcontent_review@zazzle.com

Best Regards, 
Content Review Team 
Zazzle Inc."

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

So, what's a designer to do?

Give up?

So I designed  a postcard, instead, with NUCLEAR, not NUKELAR..

 

Future maximum card from a Finnish birch wooden (but flexible) postcard: Boreal Owl (Aegolius funereus)

Thank you again, Maffe from Suomi/Finland :) !

Someday, I'll send an Avery 8665 transparent label to a partner/friend from Finland, who will affix a matching Finnish stamp with the Boreal Owl.

http://www.birdtheme.org/species/imagespage.php?spec=798&fl=A

Then that stamp, on the label, will get a handcancel/postmark from a cooperating/open-minded postal associate (postal clerk) from Finland.

Once I receive the stamped and postmarked label back, I could carefully affix that onto my cool wooden postcard, which postcard I don't want to risk to lose it, if I were to mail it back to Finland.

Some might say that "an owl is an owl" - who cares about the different species of owls? :)
Well, the Boreal Owl is not...Karen Blixen's [pet] owl.
The Boreal Owl is actually..Tengmalm's Owl.
"This type of owl was featured in Out of Africa (film) as Karen Blixen's pet, although it is not native to Africa and was not the species of owl the real Karen Blixen kept".


"Tengmalm's Owl, Aegolius funereus, is a small owl. It is known as the Boreal Owl in North America. This species is a part of the larger grouping of owls known as typical owls, Strigidae, which contains most species of owl. The other grouping is the barn owls, Tytonidae. This bird is named after the Swedish naturalist Peter Gustaf Tengmalm."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boreal_owl

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Now THAT'S the largest owl species in the world: Blakiston's Fish Owl (Bubo blakistoni)

This is only a simple postcard, but I'd like to create a maximum card, with a Japanese stamp and the help of a Japanese philatelic partner/friend to get a postmark :)

http://www.birdtheme.org/species/imagespage.php?spec=776&fl=B

Appearances are deceiving - that's their purpose.

Do you think the above owl is a fatso?

You think so?

http://www.zazzle.com/i_dont_think_so_postage-172747464236221795?rf=238693463283865848

Just like a sumo wrestler only appears to be a fatso, when in fact he is a strong athlete who overeats on purpose, due to the sumo tradition. So he gets a layer of fat over his well-trained muscles.

Well, our owl in the postcard above only shakes its feathers, I guess.

Or, maybe it has just swallowed...a whole hedgehog (you think I'm kidding? Read more about owls...:)...)

Or, maybe it has just swallowed a long-spine porcupinefish, also known as the spiny balloonfish.

http://biomechanics.bio.uci.edu/_html/nh_biomech/pufferfish/puffer.htm

Just kidding. :)

"Blakiston's Fish Owl is possibly the largest species of owl at 60-75cm (24-30 in). A recent field study of the species showed males weighing from 3 to 3.75 kg (6.6-8.3 lbs), with the female, at up to 4.5 kg (10 lbs), about 25% larger.^[1] Superficially, this owl looks like the Eurasian eagle owl, but is paler, and has broad, ragged ear tufts. "

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blakiston's_Fish-owl

Read this, and see some great images, too:

http://www.fishowls.com/

"Cartes maximum" from USA: The Osprey (Pandion haliaetus), sometimes known as the sea hawk or fish eagle

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Pandion_haliaetus_-fish_-Texas-8-4c.jpg

Very skillful fish-catcher.

"The Osprey differs in several respects from other diurnal birds of prey. Its toes are of equal length, its tarsi are reticulate, and its talons are rounded, rather than grooved. The Osprey and Owls are the only raptors whose outer toe is reversible, allowing them to grasp their prey with two toes in front and two behind. This is particularly helpful when they grab slippery fish."

"The Osprey is unusual in that it is a single species that occurs nearly worldwide. Even the few subspecies are not unequivocally separable. There are four generally recognised subspecies, although differences are small, and ITIS only lists the first two.^[3]

• P. h. haliaetus (Linnaeus, 1758), Eurasia.^[6]
• P. h. carolinensis (Gmelin, 1788), North America. This form is larger, darker bodied and has a paler breast than nominate haliaetus.^[6]"

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

The second-biggest owl in the world: The Eurasian Eagle-Owl (Bubo bubo) - maximum card from Romania

Some say that it can swallow a hedgehog whole.

Aw, come on!

Why scratch its GI tract?

Moral of the story: don't do something  just because you can. Eventually, it may hurt you.

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

Would you like to see what countries have issued stamps with this bird?

Visit a superb website:

http://www.birdtheme.org/species/imagespage.php?spec=771&fl=B

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Happy Postcard Friendship Friday! :) 

Please visit http://thebestheartsarecrunchy.blogspot.com

My Picasa public album, with many images viewable as thumbnails

Dorincard

The world's largest butterfly: Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae) - WWF maximum cards from Papua-New Guinea

The above image shows the male of Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae).

The above image shows the female of Queen Alexandra's Birdwing (Ornithoptera alexandrae).

They are as big as some birds, and they fly like some birds - but they are butterflies!

"Birdwings are papilionid butterflies native to the Indian Subcontinent, mainland and archipelagic Southeast Asia and Australasia, and are usually regarded as belonging to three genera:Ornithoptera, Trogonoptera and Troides. Some authorities include additional genera. The exact number of species is debated, but most recent authorities recognize between 30 and 40. Birdwings are named for their exceptional size, angular wings, and birdlike flight."

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

The females of Queen Alexandra's Birdwing are bigger than the males.

Here's an image of a female:

Hovercraft:

"Courtship is brief but spectacular; males hover above a potential mate, dousing her with a pheromone to induce mating. Receptive females will allow the male to land and pair, while unreceptive females will fly off or otherwise discourage mating. Males are strongly territorial and will see off potential rivals, sometimes chasing small birds as well as other birdwing species."

No more shotgun approach:

"The species is also highly prized by collectors, with illegally traded specimens selling for thousands of dollars. Although collectors are often implicated with the decline of this species, habitat destruction is the main threat. Early collectors, frustrated by the height at which adults fly during the day, often used small shotguns to down specimens. but because collectors demand high quality specimens for their collections, most specimens are reared from larvae or pupae."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Alexandra's_Birdwing

White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) on maximum cards from USA, Romania and Netherlands Antilles

I created this non-FIP maximum card with a real photo postcard.

I shot it (the photo, not the deer :)... ) in the Shenandoah National Park, Virginia, USA. 

At arm's length, from my car, as this doe came to see if I have any food for her.

"The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known as the Virginia deer or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States (all but five of the states),Canada, Mexico, Central America, and in South America as far south as Peru. It has also been introduced to New Zealand and some countries in Europe, such as Finland and the Czech Republic."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-tailed_deer

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I'll add later other maximum card images.

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In Romania there is no wild population of white-tailed deer, but there was a stamp series honoring/celebrating/"exploiting" the fauna of the arctic region. Just as so many countries issue stamp with giant panda, when there is NO connection with the local fauna. :)

"In Valerius Geist's book Mule Deer Country he explains that by testing the mitochondrial DNA of the three species (blacktail, whitetail and mule deer), researchers have now determined that it was the mating of whitetail does [DOEs] and blacktail bucks that gave rise to the mule deer, and not the opposite as was once suspected, therefore not falling under a subspecies of O. hemionus and rather as its own species O. columbianus.^[2]"

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-tailed_deer}

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Happy Postcard Friendship Friday!

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