BBC News - World of Warcraft offered 'free'. Also, I show you a mythical Dragon image in a maximum card about the Year of the Dragon

Please read: BBC News - World of Warcraft offered 'free'

Anybody can fight with another human (who's YOUR enemy, 

in real life, Second Life, virtual life or what-have-you?).

But can you fight against a Dragon?...:)

Let's say that the Dragon has a horny heart - between the eyes, with the forefront horn sticking out of that puss-yellow/mucus heart shape (ain't that disgusting?).

Then again, Dragons are supposed to be scary, disgusting, ugly...no?

Do you find this one to be Pretty in Pink, though?

From a previous blogpost, "back by popular demand":

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 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

http://dorincard.blogspot.com/search/label/dragon

Like the Latins could say: Habent sua fata [NOT FATWA] blogposts -  Blogposts have their own fate...to fall into forgotten memories (forgottenness?).

That's why (some) blopost info is worth repeating - few readers are loyal, long-time followers...:)

Please visit and join The Guest Heart Thursday meme!

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

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

My philatelic souvenir, a fringe dorincard, about XPTO = an old abbreviation of the word "Χριστός", written "Christós" (Christ, in Greek).

Per USPS, it is legal to postmark a foreign stamp, as long as you also postmark an American one, in the same stroke.

The 3 cents STAR stamp is only marginally, and abstractly related to the religious icon.

Who lives among stars, if anybody?...

Yes, it's a stretch - that's why I don't call this a FIP CfM-compliant maximum card.

But, hey! - it's still interesting, and unique in the world! :)

That MPP (Mailer's Postmark Permit) postmark from Sterling, VA 20165 is mine, and only mine, with #67.

http://dorincard.blogspot.com/search?q=mppc

"The expression "XPTO" is an old abbreviation of the word "Χριστός", written "Christós" (Christ, in Greek). 

The letters X (chi), ρ (rho), τ (tau) and ό (omicron) were selected and capitalized (except the "X") to form the abbreviation. Since the selected letters are written the same way in the latin alphabet this abbreviation is commonly spelled "xpto", ex-pee-tee-o. 

The expression XPTO is normally used to describe something with very good qualities (e.g.: I own an XPTO car)."

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

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The Divided States of Europe | STRATFOR. Also, I show you a metaphoric image for this article: Europe should not be "like a rock" (or like Iraq!!!), but like a cougar lurking behind a rock. Europe: not fixed, but flexible. My maxicard with puma/cougar/mountain lion from Canada

Please read: The Divided States of Europe | STRATFOR

http://web.stratfor.com/images/europe/map/Europe_Spheres_influence_800.jpg

Europe, like any other geopolitical region of the world, should NOT aim to be fixed and steady "like a rock".

Instead, it should be "flexible" like a cougar.

I'm not saying "contorsionist". Bending over can be hazardous...:)

Rock: steady exposure to the elements will erode it, eventually.

Cougar: when it rains like crazy, it will find shelter.

There's some red in this image, is it not?

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