606 words on a stamp…

 

Here is a unique stamp from Belgium Post issued on 8th March. The postage stamp released by bpost to celebrate the International Women’s Day held the world record. The stamp with 606 words was recognized “stamp with the largest number of readable words” by Guinness World Records.

The stamp depicts a woman’s face that is composed of integral sentences coming from the “Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women”.

The background of the image entirely consists of text. The stamp designer Ann Bessemans used the Big Vesta font for the text to make it perfectly readable in very small size.

It is the first time bpost is issuing a stamp dedicated to the International Women’s Day. “Bpost already released stamps with women in the lead role, but this is the first one for the International Women’s Day”, said Fred Lens, spokesman for bpost.

As a bonus, the stamp entered the philatelic world history: “We’ve sent our design to Guinness World Records, and it has immediately won in the category “stamp with the largest number of readable words”, says Lens. “The category didn’t exist before, but with 606 words, our record will hopefully just hold out”.

Club News

UPHILEX 2014

UPHILEX 2014, a state level exhibition is being held at Lucknow from 7-9 March 2014. About 300 frames with exhibits of different categories from collectors all over the state have been displayed in the exhibition .

: Ambrish Kumar - Allahabad

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Silver stamps with diamonds from Nederland

 

 

Here are unique stamps to be issued by Nederland Post. The stamps are extraordinary made of pure Silver and Diamonds to attract the collectors . It’s a nice item for the collectors  of unique and extraordinary stamps.

Since April 30, 2013 Willem-Alexander is King of the Netherlands. To mark this event the Dutch Postal Authority (PostNL) together with the Royal Dutch Mint designed and produced a series of 10 legal tender stamps representing the portrait of King Willem-Alexander depicted in the format of Minted Photo Image (MPI) and 3D relief, with a rose cut diamond attached, and 9 other ruling European Monarchs. All the stamps are made of pure silver with a small diamond added.

Burgos as the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy for 2013

Here is a beautiful stamp from Spain featuring some popular dishes from Spain. Spanish cuisine  is a big tourist attraction in Spain. The stamp depicts a still-life of typical dishes such as black pudding, olla podrida, made with pinto beans, chorizo sausage and lamb, a variety of cheeses and a glass of local wine.

A jury consisting of eleven experts on gastronomy and tourism has chosen Burgos as the Spanish Capital of Gastronomy for 2013, a stamp was issued by Spanish Correos in this regard. The nomination is backed up by the prestigious US newspaper, the New York Times, which considered Burgos to be the Best Tourist Destination in Spain in 2013 and 25th in the world.

The culinary venture came into being in 2011, when the Spanish Catering Federation and the Spanish Tourism Journalists and Writers Federation decided to promote gastronomy as a tourist attraction in Spain and abroad. The award recognises that the quality of the city’s gastronomy excels in all aspects, from creative cooking to the wealth of products.

During this gourmet year there have been competitions for savoury tapas (snacks) and sweet tapas made with local liqueurs; also an artisan cheese contest, organized by the Spanish Cheese-makers’ Network, with over 150 varieties sent in from all over Spain, 24 of which were protected Designations of Origin.

The gastronomy of Burgos offers a wide range of local products that are outstanding for their quality. Therefore, it is no secret in the city that you can enjoy a tasty tapa or delicious set meal, washed down with wine from the Ribera del Duero or D.O. Arlanza.

As well as gastronomy, Burgos invites you to admire the art of its Gothic cathedral, a World Heritage Site, the arches and gates entering the old town, pedestrian streets, tree-lined walks and the most surprising spots. As for culture, there is the Museum of Human Evolution taking you on a journey to the past and the origins of man in Europe, with a display of the remains found in the archaeological site of Atapuerca.

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World’s first Thermo - sensitive stamps…

 

 

Hi !

Here are world’s first heat sensitive stamps issued by Belgium Post. These are unique stamps with special features. The color of the tree depicted on stamp changes with increase in the temperature.

The Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium (IRM) is celebrating its hundredth anniversary this summer. On this occasion, the Institute has partnered with bpost to present the first Belgian and even world novelty: four thermosensitive stamps depicting the four seasons of the year.

The IRM is celebrating its 100th anniversary on July 31. To mark the event, the Institute cooperated with bpost to issue special stamps printed with a temperature responsive ink.

“This technological innovation is the first Belgian and certainly the world first”, exclaims the spokesman for bpost, Fred Lens. The series consists of five stamps: a stamp depicting the building of the IRM and four heat-sensitive stamps, each representing a tree whose leaf forms the map of Belgium. The foliage is green but when the temperature exceeds 25°, for example if one puts a finger on the stamp, the green layer disappears showing the tree in one of the four seasons (sun, rain, snow, clouds).

New stamps on Music

Belgium post issued a stamp dedicated to traditional music festivals held in open air all around Belgium in summer time. The most famous ones:

Rock Werchter: it’s a Belgian annual music festival held in the village of Werchter, since 1976. It is one of the five biggest annual rock music festivals in Europe (the other four being Exit, Sziget Festival, the Glastonbury Festival and Roskilde Festival). The 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2012 festivals received the Arthur award for best festival in the world at the International Live Music Conference (ILMC). It can host 85,000 guests daily, of which 67,000 combine all four days, to add up to a total maximum of 139,000 different attendees.

Pukkelpop: it’s an annual music festival which takes place near the city of Hasselt, Belgium in mid-to-late August. It is held within a large enclosure of fields and woodland in the village of Kiewit, approximately 7 km north of Hasselt. It is the second largest music festival in the country after Rock Werchter, with an attendance rate of 180,000 over the course of the event in 2009.

Dour Festival: it is an annual music festival in the municipality of Dour, Belgium. Since its creation in 1989, the festival has grown to an attendance of about 144,000 in 2008 (over 4 days). The festival format now consists of 4 days, 6 stages and 200 bands and DJ’s. The festival’s acts come from a wide range of genres, such as: electro, rock, drum and bass, pop, R&B, reggae, house, punk, hardcore, metal, hip-hop, indie, techno and more. The festival attracts a very international and mixed crowd. In January 2010, Dour Festival won the prize for the best medium-sized festival at the European Festival Awards.

 

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Chocolates

 

 

The word "chocolate" entered the English language from Spanish. How the word came into Spanish is less certain, and there are competing explanations. Perhaps the most cited explanation is that "chocolate" comes from Nahuatl, the language of the Aztecs, from the word chocolātl, which many sources derived from xocolāt, from xococ 'sour' or 'bitter', and ātl 'water' or 'drink'.

Chocolate  is a processed, typically sweetened food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central America and Northern South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC. The seeds of the cacao tree have an intense bitter taste, and must be fermented to develop the flavor.

After fermentation, the beans are dried, then cleaned, and then roasted, and the shell is removed to produce cacao nibs. The nibs are then ground to cocoa mass, pure chocolate in rough form. Because this cocoa mass usually is liquefied then molded with or without other ingredients, it is called chocolate liquor. The liquor also may be processed into two components: cocoa solids and cocoa butter. Unsweetened baking chocolate(bitter chocolate) contains primarily cocoa solids and cocoa butter in varying proportions. Much of the chocolate consumed today is in the form of sweet chocolate, combining cocoa solids, cocoa butter or other fat, and sugar. Milk chocolate is sweet chocolate that additionally contains milk powder or condensed milk. White chocolate contains cocoa butter, sugar, and milk but no cocoa solids.

Chocolate has become one of the most popular food types and flavors in the world. Chocolate chip cookies have become very common, and very popular, in most parts of Europe and North America. Gifts of chocolate molded into different shapes have become traditional on certain holidays. Chocolate is also used in cold and hot beverages, to produce chocolate milk and hot chocolate.

Cocoa mass was used originally in Mesoamerica both as a beverage and as an ingredient in foods. Chocolate played a special role in both Maya and Aztec royal and religious events. Priests presented cacao seeds as offerings to the deities and served chocolate drinks during sacred ceremonies. All of the areas that were conquered by the Aztecs that grew cacao beans were ordered to pay them as a tax, or as the Aztecs called it, a "tribute".

Stamps shown above featuring chocolates  were issued by US,France,Belgium and Switzerland.

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