Monuments - Sunday Stamps II

The Albert Memorial was one of a set of stamps of London Landmarks issued on 6 May 1980.

Great Britain

The memorial, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott, is situated in Kensington Gardens. It was commissioned by Queen Victoria to commemorated her husband, Prince Albert, who died of typhoid in 1861.

My next two stamps have a French connection although they are both from the USA.

USA - 28.8.1945 - US soldiers passing the Arc du Triomphe

The Statue of Liberty appears on many stamps, the one I have chosen to show is the oldest in my collection.

USA - 20.8.47 

A Lockheed Constellation flies over the Statue and the New York skyline - pity the franking has obscured so much.

For more monuments and memorials visit the links on Sunday-Stamps-II-89.

Please be seated - Thematic Photography

More shots from a morning walk waiting for someone to ask, 'Please be seated.'

A seat tucked away

Roadside bench

This is located on a roundabout, seated here you would breath in exhaust fumes from 1000+ vehicles in a hour.

Much better that you sit in a quiet garden with space for your friends.

Select which view you prefer

You would need to sit down at this bus stop,

with only 6 buses a week

three each Tuesday and Thursday - none in the afternoons.

It's enough to drive you to drink at the Crown.

Pleased to be seated outside

Or perhaps you would prefer to take a few cans home and relax in this garden seat.

I know which one I would chose and not wait to be asked. See others please to be seated at Carmi's thematic-photographic-381.

Olympics - Sunday Stamps II

We rented our first television to watch the 1960 Olympics in Rome where Cassius Clay won his gold medal. We little thought then that he would become so great.

The stamps I have to show from those Games are these in a old (1963) album I was given - 

Russia - XVII Olympics

Can you identify the sports depicted?

To see other Olympic stamps check out the links at Sunday-Stamps-II-88.

Hidden - Thematic Photography

Hidden away in Stockton-on-Tees is a place I visit often.

Entrance to the Flea Market

And from the other end - 

Flea Market door

I confess that this is the exit end for me.

However in my garden some things are hidden in full view.

Spotted when it moved

Still well hidden

Ready to jump out at you.

For other hidden views explore the links at Thematic-Photographic-380. where Carmi's shot could almost be me.

Shapes - Sunday Stamps II

I guess I gave the game away when I showed The Endless River album from Pink Floyd last week.

It doesn't seem 50 years since they began. Six  stamps were issued on 9 July 2016 to commemorate this milestone - or should I say, 'another brick in the wall?'

Great Britain

The albums were:

• The Piper at the Gates of Dawn - 1967 - named after Chapter 7 in Kenneth Grahame's 'The Wind in the Willows.'
• Atom Heart Mother - 1970 - their first UK No. 1. It was also the first of their LPs not to feature the band's name.

• The Dark Side of the Moon - 1973 - over 50 million copies sold worldwide and entered in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest charting album. 
• Wish You Were Here - 1975 Jazz violinist Stephane Grappelli played on the title track but is inaudible on the song.

• Animals - 1977 - appeared in the punk era; Johnny Rotten wore a T-shirt with the slogan 'I hate Pink Floyd.'

The albums protruding from the sleeves enabled me to enter these for this week's 'Shapes' on Sunday-stamps-II 87.

Reflective - Thematic Photography

We have had some domestic problems this week with cars and bathroom electrical cord-pull switches, but at least I can reflect on some good fortune in winning our kitty on the lottery jackpot ball.

For a reflective photographic theme I have had to chose some shots from within our home.

Mirror, mirror on the wall

But soft, what light through yonder window breaks

Multiple kitchen reflections, inside and out

I'm not sure that Joshua Reynolds would have said to find a window 'in' his painting - 

Even if it is a copy

Van Gogh on the other hand would just have said of his sunflowers - 

'What's this ere?

I leave you to think of the reflective gentlemen depicted in a drawing of an industrial scene which hangs on my office wall.

Perhaps, 'It will never work!'

For more reflective experiences search the links at Carmi's thematic-photographic-379.

Lakes/Rivers - Sunday Stamps II

Struggled with lakes but found some interesting rivers this week.

The longest river in the world had a dam completed on 19 July 1970, but was commemorated first in 1964.

Egypt (UAR) - 15 May 1964

The Aswan High Dam, 11 years in construction and more than 2 miles long, ended the cycle of flood and drought in the Nile region but has also resulted in the loss of fertile soil previously washed down the river.

American river explorers' exploits have appeared on stamps.

USA - 20 September 1968

Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, explored the Great Lakes and the Mississippi Valley with Louis Jolliet. He had founded the St Ignace mission on the north shore of the Mackinac Straits when Jolliet arrived with orders to look for the great river to the west which the Illinois Indians had described.

They set out in May 1673 by way of Green Bay and the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. They reached the Mississippi and went downstream to the Arkansas River before they returned, convinced the Mississippi flowed into the Gulf of Mexico.

USA - 1 August 1969

Financed by the Smithsonian Institution John Wesley Powell explored the Green and Colorado river canyons in 1869. The federal government financed further explorations in the 1870s which and to the information on public lands in the Rocky Mountain area and laid the groundwork for irrigation and conservation projects.

Back then of course neither Marquette nor Powell could have listened to -

Great Britain - 7 July 2016

 the Pink Floyd album, Endless RIver. (More about this next week)

For other watery offerings visit the links at Sunday-Stamps-II-86.

Trademark - Thematic Photography

We see many names and symbols that we immediately recognise. However we all confuse trademarks, logos and signs frequently not even knowing the difference.

Many of the photos I show on Carmi's weekly challenges are things I see on my daily walk to fetch a newspaper.

Here's me just on my way -

With my 'trademark' back pack

It's a few years old and well worn, so much so in fact that you cannot read the 'Head' name it carries. Whether 'Head' is a trademark I wouldn't know.

I know your eyes are good enough to see the yellow tag it carries. Is this a trademark or just a logo?

Dogs Trust logo?

There is a canine connection in my next shot too in which you should recognise a well-known symbol as well.

Shell Pecten symbol

In 1900 the Shell Transport and Trading Company applied for its first trademark using a shell logo, which is still on the trademark register. The logo evolved, being redesigned in 1904 when the pecten or scallop shell was introduced. 

Now where can I get a pair of shades like that dog? I'll bet they are trademarked.

To see other 'trademark' interpretations visit the links at Carmi's Thematic- photographic-378.