Maximaphily: 550 years since the first document mentioning Bucharest (București), capital of Romania

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I received today a letter with these VERY nice maximum cards, created by my philatelic partner and friend, Colonel (r) Dr. Ioan N. Daniliuc, First Vice-President of the Romanian Society for Thematic Philately and Maximaphily.

Thank you very much for these world-class maximum cards/ cartes maximum/ maximumkarten/ ilustrate maxime/ tarjetas maximas. :)

He took those pictures himself, had them printed as postcards, then processed them as maximum cards with the First day of Issue pictorial postmark. Beautiful!

As it happens frequently in Romania, the ink is of superior quality and it doesn't get smeared on the glossy surface of the postcard!

I wish I could say the same thing about the ink used at the post offices in USA, but...it's tough! :)

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"Bucharest (Romanian: București pronounced [bukuˈreʃtʲ] ( listen)) is the capital city, industrial and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at 44°25′57″N 26°06′14″E



, and lies on the banks of the Dâmboviţa River.

Bucharest was first mentioned in documents as early as 1459. Since then it has gone through a variety of changes, becoming the state capital of Romania in 1862 and steadily consolidating its position as the centre of the Romanian mass media, culture and arts. Its eclectic architecture is a mix of historical (neo-classical), interbellum (Bauhaus and Art Deco), Communist-era and modern. In the period between the two World Wars, the city's elegant architecture and the sophistication of its elite earned Bucharest the nickname of the "Little Paris of the East" (Micul Paris).^[4] Although many buildings and districts in the historic centre were damaged or destroyed by war, earthquakes and Nicolae Ceaușescu's program of systematization, many survived. In recent years, the city has been experiencing an economic and cultural boom.^[5]

According to January 1, 2009 official estimates, Bucharest proper has a population of 1,944,367.^[1] The urban area extends beyond the limits of Bucharest proper and has a population of 2 million people.^[2][6] Adding the satellite towns around the urban area, the metropolitan area of Bucharest has a population of 2.15 million people.^[3] Bucharest is the 6th largest city in the European Union by population within city limits.^[7]"

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

Veterans' Day update

Many years ago, I have read a statistics report saying that 1/3 of all homeless men in America were war veterans.

A few have even gone "to the dark side" - maybe they had wounds beyond the flesh...

My point is that the government should do more for the veterans, and we could help, too, even with modest contributions.

Veterans' Day: thank you to all who ever served in the military!

I started with US Navy because a friend/collector asked me for a maximum card with an American aircraft carrier, for the NATO section of his international philatelic exhibit: Fight Against Terrorism.

Eventually, I have affixed the stamp on the picture side, and I have applied on the glossy frontside my postmark that you can see, much more visible, on the backside.

In time, I will create similar Zazzle stamps with US Army, US Air Force, etc.

They all deserve our sincere Thank you!, and much more than that.

How many of us, civilians, would risk our lives and livelihood to go to war?

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Full disclosure: all the titles of my posts are clickable (hyperlinks).

In general, you will go either to my photobucket album to see more, or to my store(s) - delcampe or zazzle.

In case you are really interested, you can buy what you want. If you only want to look around, you're welcome, as well. :)

WONDERS OF AMERICA: AUTOGRAPHED SET OF 40 MAXIMUM CARDS WITH FIRST DAY OF ISSUE PICTORIAL POSTMARK

This is an example of active stamp collecting, as opposed to passive.

I did NOT just buy these maximum cards; I created them, in partnership with USPS.

You don't have to buy the set (I already sold a similar one, not identical - the one autographed by Lonnie Busch), but please take a careful look.

- Condition: AUTOGRAPHED SET 40 MAXIMUM CARDS WITH FIRST DAY OF ISSUE PICTORIAL POSTMARK
- Year: 2006
- Number(s): COMPLETE SET OF 40 DIFFERENT
- Catalog value: (UNIQUE IN THE WORLD?)
- Painstakingly and graciously autographed on the back of postcards by the talented Art Director /Illustrator Richard Sheaff. Thank you, Richard! During the Washington, D.C. 2006 International Philatelic Exhibition, the autographing was very limited, only a few hours in total, and only 10 (ten) items per person, officially. By waiting around for a few hours, I was able to obtain, eventually, that full set of 40 autographed maximum cards. Other collectors who stood in line have obtained autographed panes of the 40 stamps and FDCs, mostly. I haven´t seen anybody else been able and fortunate enough to obtain what I obtained. Therefore, it is very possible that this set is the only one in the world with the pictorial FDOI postmarks and with the autographs of Richard Sheaff.
I have also obtained one other set of 40, autographed only by the other talented illustrator, Lonnie Busch. Thank you, Lonnie! That set I have already sold. To my knowledge, there is no other such autographed set, by either one, in the world.
I noticed that Richard Sheaff, as Art Director, felt compelled to answer more questions from the public than Lonnie Busch. That means Lonnie managed to sign considerably more items than Richard.
Photo-certificate of authenticity, showing me next to the two illustrators while they autograph, is available upon request.

Maximum card/ carte maximum/ maximumkarte: Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus)

Stoop - there it is...

The fastest animal on the planet in its hunting dive, the stoop, which involves soaring to a great height and then diving steeply at speeds commonly said to be over 320 km/h (199 mph), and hitting one wing of its prey so as not to harm itself on impact.

In 2005, Ken Franklin recorded a falcon stooping at a top speed of 389 km/h (242 mph).

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peregrine_falcon)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3mTPEuFcWk&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Virtual maximum card / carte maximum / maximumkarte : Stripeless, Snow White Tiger

Akbar Kabul, a Snow White tiger at The Mirage, in a time when the Siegfried & Roy show was dwarfing all the other Vegas shows. Beasts, but not of burden.

Not for every spectator/tourist: some were more into watching a Bad, Bad Queen of the Las Vegas...strip (I mean Strip, boulevard) or into biting from the forbidden fruit (apple).

Aye, ho!...aye, ho...not you, Bambi!

Thus, some of those tourists volunteered for their own Cirque de la Nuit.

Les Misérables...or, if you want to excuse somebody's French: Ley Mizerabb!...desperate for a FEMfatal to happen in Vegas, and stay in Vegas. A hard twist on French, as if Brett FaRVe is driving a DISLEXUS...

If not, there's always gambling (gaming is the official term) and boozing. Both around the clock.

Anagram: SLOT MACHINES = CASH LOST IN ME or CASH LOST IN 'EM.

Keyword: Mirage. A Wynn-Win situation. Steve Wynn - his mind has a far better vision than his eyes.

Maximum cards: white sturgeon, the largest freshwater fish in America

Not from the bowels of Hell, but from... Hells Canyon, Idaho (I-da-ho?), says this postcard:
From the 40-stamp series "Wonders of America". Look at the fish, not at the guy.

:)

He is not fishing for compliments.

The postmark in the second maximum card is almost invisible - that post office didn't have superior ink. That's why a label under the postmark would have made it visible.

Now that you're done looking at the fish, go ahead and look at Macho Camacho / Muscleman / Chess champion Bobby The Fisher (yeah, right).

"Like a sturgeon.../Caught...for the/ Very FIRST time..."

Pick your preferred name:

"The white sturgeon (Acipenser transmontanus, meaning "sturgeon beyond the mountains"), also known as the Pacific sturgeon, Oregon sturgeon, Columbia sturgeon, Sacramento sturgeon, and California white sturgeon, is a sturgeon (a fish of the family Acipenseridae) which lives along the west coast of North America from the Aleutian Islands to Central California.

It is the largest freshwater fish in North America and is the third largest species of sturgeon, after the Beluga [not beluga the dolphin - Dorin's note] and the Kaluga. The white sturgeon is known to reach a maximum size of 816 kg (1,798 lb) and 6.1 m (20.1 ft)." (http://www.wikipedia.org)

Beluga, Kaluga...wait till you see Azuga!

Nah...just kidding. That's a small city in Romania :D, renowned for skiing slopes and beer brewing. Two activities that can knock you down.

http://www.primariaazuga.ro/module.php?module=newsannounce&catid=105&item=722