(Compost bin) An Overview of Postage Stamp Collecting
No commentsBy Marvin Cervantes
Stamp collecting has become one of the most loved hobbies of people throughout the world. A stamp contains a piece of time and a piece of place and that’s why people love collecting them. Stamp collecting can also be a very inexpensive hobby and this is one of the main reasons why people join the stamp collecting bandwagon.
Postage Stamps
The first postage stamp was issued by Great Britain as a way to pre-pay for the cost of the delivery of mail. The first-ever stamp was issued on May 6, 1840. Sir Rowland Hill first came up with the idea of postage stamps as part of Great Britain’s standardized postal rates.
The first postage stamp was referred to as the Penny Black. It assisted in the elimination of certain problems that are associated with mail delivery. Twenty years after the stamp was introduced, it became so popular around the world that 70 countries adopted the postage stamp system.
Stamp Collecting
Postage stamp collecting was born basically at the same time that the first stamps were issued. Around 1860, there were already thousands of collectors and businessmen became caterers in terms of the desires of these collectors. The stamp madness swept Europe and the European colonies all over the world. People collected stamps in different ways. Some of them even went to cover their rooms with sheets of stamps which were issued.
Business
Businessmen found a niche in stamp collecting. They opened businesses that catered to the needs of the collectors. They started to sell different stamp collecting paraphernalia such as stamp books, hinges, coverings, etc. They also specialized in selling stamps. The oldest business which specializes in selling stamps and supplies is “Stanley Gibbons” in London. It was created back in 1856 and is still growing!
Popularity
Stamp collecting is continuously garnering popularity. In the United States alone, an estimated 25 million Americans collect postage stamps. Around the globe, there is an estimated 200 million stamp collectors. There are around 125,000 stamp dealers, manufacturers and other businesses that are connected with stamp collecting. There are also numerous associations, clubs and stamp-oriented organizations. There are also around 4000 shows and exhibitions about stamps in the United States annually.
Taking Care of Stamps
Many collectors house their stamps into specially-made albums and stamp books. The stamps are encased in special plastic which prevents them from being damaged. These plastic encasings are usually hinged so as to minimize contact with the stamps. There are other supplies such as stamp tongs and magnifying glasses which are useful in handling stamps. The value of a stamp is mainly dependent on the preservation of its condition. A single scratch on the stamp can render a stamp worthless.
Ways of Collecting
There are several ways of collecting stamps. People collect stamps according to their countries of origin or according to the time periods when they were issued. Some people like to collect stamps according to a certain sub-topic, such as collecting stamps which contain cartoon characters or perhaps their favorite animal. Postage stamp collecting is not only limited to collecting postage stamps per se. In general, stamp collecting refers to collecting stuff that are connected with stamps such as stamp covers, envelopes and containers which contain the stamps themselves.
Philately
Collecting stamps is not quite the same as philately. Philately is commonly associated with stamp collecting but it is actually the study of stamps. A philatelist may not necessarily be a collector and a collector need not be a philatelist.
Economic Activity
Stamp collecting has generated substantial revenues for small countries which create limited edition stamps. These stamps are designed to attract the collectors and are made for profit.
Future for Stamp Collecting
Some people argue that postage stamp collecting is nearing its end because of the advent of the different hi-tech communication systems such as the electronic mail or e-mail. However, nothing would beat a personalized mail coming from a dearly beloved friend or family member. People will never stop sending mails and packages to other people. And even though the need for postage stamps would decrease, the need for collecting stamps will not diminish. People will be more interested in collecting stamps especially under the assumption that they will become more and more difficult to find.
Collecting postage stamps should not be clouded by too many rules and restrictions. Even though these stamps can actually be means of earning money, the real value of stamps come from the sheer fun that they give when one is collecting them.
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A Brief Overview of Specialty Coffee
By Hong Kirby
Specialty coffee is coffee made from exceptional beans grown only in ideal coffee-producing climates. The unique characteristics of the soil where the coffee plants are grown combined with the ideal climate creates distinctive flavors that makes specialty coffee beans so sought-after. For this reason, they are sometimes referred to as gourmet or premium coffee.
The First Specialty Coffee
The first person to ever use the phrase “specialty coffee” was Erna Knutsen, who coined the term in the 1974 issue of the Tea & Coffee Trade Journal. Knutsen, then a coffee buyer for B.C. Ireland in San Francisco, came up with the term while trying to describe beans with outstanding flavors due to the special microclimates used in their cultivation.
From then on, the phrase became a common term used to describe flavorful, high quality coffee. But it was not until the late 1990s, when the proliferation of cafes and gourmet coffee retailers, that the term specialty coffee entered common usage.
That, combined with the ever increasing popularity of coffee drinking has made specialty coffee one of the fastest growing food service markets in the world. In 2004, specialty coffee netted an estimated $9.6 billion in the US alone.
Why Specialty Coffee?
For the simple reason that a cup of specialty coffee tastes infinitely better than a cup made form ordinary coffee beans. From the time the coffee plant was cultivated to the time they are harvested, dried, and roasted, specialty coffee beans are prepared according to exact standards to ensure great tasting coffee. What’s more, specialty coffee must pass stringent certification process to ensure that it is free of flaws and imperfections, in an test called the “cupping method.”
What is Cupping?
If you consider yourself a specialty coffee aficionado, then you probably heard of the term “cupping” and probably even know the meaning of it. But for the benefit of others who don’t, cupping is a system of evaluation used to test the aroma and taste of coffee beans. Growers, buyers, and roasters employ the cupping method in order to “grade” the quality of a particular sample of specialty coffee.
Generally, there are six things that you should look into when cupping:
* Fragrance - or the smell of the beans after grinding
* Aroma - different from fragrance in that it is the smell of ground-up beans after being steeped in water
* Taste - or the flavor of the coffee
* Nose - in much the same way as the term is used in wine tasting, it means the vapors and flavors released by coffee in your mouth
* Aftertaste - or the vapors and flavors that remain after you swallow
* Body - the feel of the coffee in the mouth
The steps involved in cupping specialty coffee are often very exact and is actually a step by step process. That is why buyers, owners of specialty coffee houses, and brewers hire only trained individuals to do their cupping for them.
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Dancing on Ice
By Freddy Roy
For those who love to dance but would like to try something a little more challenging, there is always ice dance. This is a form of figure skating that also incorporates some of the rules and moves of ballroom dancing into the mix for a little bit of an added challenge and a few more restrictions when it comes to moves and creative license than traditional figure skating allows.
Ice dance also requires music that has a definitive beat or style of rhythm, which offers a few more restrictions than traditional figure skating. Ice dance can be done for fun and enjoyment or as part of a competition. The competition in this fierce though somewhat new (to American audiences at any rate) is quite fierce among dominate skaters and world leaders in the field much like traditional figure skating.
Ice dance is a beautiful and fluid form of dance that many consider to be even more graceful than either traditional ballroom dancing or traditional figure skating. The technical skills as well as the strength of each partner in this form of dance are extremely demanding and in order to become or remain competitive in this style of dance one must constantly work to home and improve one’s skills.
If you have never had the opportunity to watch ice dance whether on television or live, I suggest you take the next available opportunity to do so. Ice dance is a great way to spend the evening. It’s a big hit with the girls if you happen to be a guy. If you happen to be a dad of daughters it will make you a hero in their eyes as well as giving them other dedicated and hard working men and women to look to as heroes as well.
Whether you are all that thrilled by the dips, twirls, lifts, and flips you cannot deny the dedication to craft and sport that these skaters must endure in order to remain on top of their games. I can think of few better heroes I would rather have for my children than athletes who dedicate so much time, energy, and effort to their sports.
Watching ice dance is a fun way for many to spend an evening at home. However, watching ice dance live is that much more intriguing to many fans and spectators. There is an energy and oneness with the crowd that simply cannot be relayed through the television screen. Being one of the spectators at a live ice dancing competition is almost as exciting for me as being at a live sporting event such as a football game or race.
There is an electric energy that goes along with being a part of the crowd of spectators that is impossible to match on screen or through any other medium. There is a huge difference in hearing the roar of a crowd or thunderous applause through your television set and hearing it all around you as you sit in the middle. It’s a truly amazing and humbling experience.
Ice dance is a highly competitive sport. If you have a child that is interested or you are interested yourself be prepared to invest a great deal of time and money into any serious competitive efforts that you may have in your future. As you have probably gathered this is a partnered competition. You must have a partner in order to truly compete. This, for many is an added source of time and effort. Not all partners are immediate hits with one another and the chemistry is not always there. Plan to invest a good deal of time and effort into finding a good partner for your ice dance efforts if this is a sport you seriously wish to pursue. If you just want to participate as a spectator however, there is no partner required and a great deal of entertainment to be had.
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Sunday, September 27th, 2009 at 10:39 pm and is filed under gardening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
