Seattle, USA

The last post for today features two cards from Bryon that somehow I can relate to our current political situation...that is the Colourful Revolution that has been ongoing here for over a month.
I know that the foreign media are not really covering this event, so if you are curious to read more about what's going on, you can read the following article that wraps it up nicely

Colourful Revolution in Macedonia


And if you are wondering what's the relation of that Revolution to these cards...well they are also very colourful :)

The first card shows The Gum Wall in Seattle - yep, what you can see here is chewing gums indeed. I find it both super-cool and gross :)
It is a local landmark of Seattle in an alleyway in downtown of the city and was named one of the top 5 germiest tourist attractions in 2009 - I mean, what else could one expect =)

Three nice stamps on the backside - the famous American clock is first, while the middle and the last stamp were both issued in 2011 - the first one for the Hanukkah and the latter for the Kwanzaa Festival.

This second card shows something that is also kinda typical about Seattle and that is a bunch of umbrellas in the streets cos of the frequent rains. Maybe it is not fun when it is raining so often, but the thing makes a really cool card :)

another bunch of nice stamps, featuring again the American clock at the bottom, while the top row of stamps starts with a fab George Gershwin stamp from a set of four American Art stamps issued in 1973. The middle one is from 2012 issued for the 100th Anniversary of Arizona Statehood while the last one is also from 2012 for the Distinguished Americans series, featuring José Ferrer, a Puerto Rican actor, theatre and film director.
He was the first Puerto Rican actor, as well as the first Hispanic actor, to win an Academy Award (in 1950 for Cyrano de Bergerac).

Well, Puerto Rico is a US territory after all...

Thanks a lot Bryon for both of these cards, they were kinda inspiring :)

And it is a bit early, but still, wishing you all a great weekend!

Space Needle, USA

hey, here comes that famous Space Needle, and two cards featuring it, where this first Did You Know card, I have absolutely no idea whom I had received it from nor when I had received it...however, it does contain a number of information primarily about Seattle, so Ill type it for you since Im not sure how well the zoom works on the images here...if there is something incorrect, I ask the Seattleites reading this blog to kindly correct it...thank you ;-)

Seattle, named after Native American Chief Sealth, was founded in 1851 by 5 courageous pioneer families homesteading from Illinois.
Seattle's first industry was timber. Logs from the surrounding old growth forests were skidded down the steep and muddy hills to Henry Yesler's mill on waterfront. This area of Seattle became appropriately referred to as "Skid Row" and the phrase soon took on a new worldwide meaning when it became associated with the seedy activities nearby (have to interfere here but to me Skid Row is a rock band from the 80's of the last century)
Seattle's first buildings were constructed on wooden pilings just above the tide flats. At high tide, a flushing toilet would sometimes cause a gushing fountain in the street, After a fire destroyed most of the city in 1889, city engineers began leveling the hills and raising the waterfront streets. Half as much dirt as was moved during the digging of the Panama Canal was pushed into Elliot Bay. Seattle's past can still be seen on the underground tours in Pioneer Square.
In 1916 when a man named Boeing launched his first float plane, Seattle's huge aircraft industry was born.
The Space Needle, built for the 1962 Century 21 World's Fair, would later become an international symbol for Seattle.
Known for its majestic colourful landscape (and occasional rainfall?) - occasional?? SERIOUSLY??? - visitors are finding out first hand that "The Emerald City" upholds its reputation as one of the nation's most livable cities.

well, no stamps on this one but yet, quite educational...

anyways, moving onto the second Space Needel card....*cough cough*...ok the card is really lengthy so it has suffered its wears and tears...problem is I am not really sure if it arrived this way or the constant moving of postcard bags and boxes around had its contribution *feeling ashamed a bit*

But it is an AWESOME card...with even more AWESOME stamps, sent by one of those Seattleites ;-)

took you a while to scroll till here, no? =)
this is what the back of the card says: "This spectacular view of the Space Needle ® was "painted" with light from a helicopter rising first up one side and then the other side. This 600 foot structure is topped by a revolving 220 seat restaurant, which will make a complete rotation each hour and will afford the visitor a breathtaking view of the lakes, mountains and salt water surrounding Seattle.


Yeah, that's definitely something Id love to see, feeling like being on the top of the world!

btw, this commemorative series is sponsored by the SPACE NEEDLE ®

aaaand...ta-dadaaaa here are the absolutely fantastic stamps!! those who know how much Im into astronomy and everything space related will surely know why im so thrilled about these! I had to put them into extra-large, so I can admire them even more.

this entire block of stamps was issued in 1981, portraying the Space Achievement and Space Flights, like exploring the moon, understanding the sun and comprehending the Universe. Stunning stunning stunning!

And there is of course a matching stamp featuring the Space Needle, issued in 1962 for the Seattle World Expo.

And now of course, the biggest THANK YOU to Bryon the Seattleite for a treat to droll over! Cant express myself how much I love it!

oh btw, if someone is interested in more Space stamps, particularly USSR ones, I posted a couple yesterday on my stamps' blog, so if you want, you can check them out here