Art – Page 2 – Willem's Planet

February 7, 2025February 7, 2025

Friday/ a collection of succulents

Happy Friday.
Welcome to today’s South African stamp project.

I culled the set of stamps on this page from a thousand or so that I had removed from envelope paper clippings.
(A lot of work, done earlier this week: dunk them in water, carefully separate the stamp from the paper, dry on paper towel, and press under a stack of books).

My Scott stamp catalogue confirmed that these stamps are all worth hardly-anything.
One exception: there is a Standardised Mail stamp (the first one on the page), with the fine black text double-printed, that is listed for US$136. (I found no such stamp in the ones I had).

Postmarks and shades of South Africa’s fifth definitive issue.
These are all multicolored, and my catalog does not list any shaded varieties, even though it seems to me it could: say—
7c bright colors and 7c dull colors;
21c olive-green and 21c blue-green;
35c blue-gray and 35c gray;
R1 brownish-green and R1 green.

**1988-1993 Fifth Definitive Issue (Succulents), South Africa**
Issued Sept. 1, 1988
Perf. 14×14¼ |Design: Hein Botha |Phosphorized paper| Lithography |No Watermark
903 Standardised Mail (45c) (’93) Multicolored Stapelia grandiflora
782 1c Multicolored Huernia zebrina
783 2c Multicolored Euphorbia symmetrica
784 5c Multicolored Lithops dorotheae
785 7c Multicolored Gibbaeum nebrownii
786 10c Multicolored Didymaotus lapidiformis
787 16c Multicolored Vanheerdea divergens
809 18c (’89) Multicolored Faucaria tigrine
788 20c Multicolored Conophytum mundum
833 21c (’90) Multicolored Gasteria armstrongii
789 25c Multicolored Cheiridopsis peculiaris
790 30c Multicolored Tavaresia barklyi
791 35c Multicolored Dinteranthus wilmotianus
792 40c Multicolored Frithia pulchra
793 50c Multicolored Lapidaria margaretae
794 90c Multicolored Dioscorea elephantipes
795 R1 Multicolored Trichocaulon cactiforme
796 R2 Multicolored Crassula columnaris
832 R5 (’90) Multicolored Anacampseros albissima
Note: this set includes a 1c, 2c, 5c and 10c coil stamp, which is not listed above. Interestingly, of all the hundreds of mail pieces I had, none had a coil stamp on. (Coil stamps are sold in a long strip that is rolled into a coil).
[Source: Stampworld.com]

February 3, 2025February 3, 2025

Monday/ perfins

A perfin is a stamp that has a name or initials perforated into it.
The word “perfin” is short for “perforated initials” or “perforated insignia”.
Perfins are used to prevent theft and control how the stamp is used for mail.
How are perfins created?
Individuals, organizations, or government agencies add perfins to stamps after the production process.
The holes are punched into the stamp’s design to create a pattern.
Source: Google Search Labs/ AI Overview

These are the only perfins I have found so far (among the thousands of stamps I have amassed for my collection and for my philatelic ‘research’ ).
The U.S. stamp bottom left is also pre-cancelled. Pre-cancelled stamps were used for mass-mailings, making it unnecessary for the post office to cancel them, and expediting their processing.

**1961 First Definitive Issue (New Design), South Africa**
Issued Jan. 20, 1969
Perf. 13½x14 |Phosphor frame |Wmk. RSA tête-bêche
SACC282 |1c |Rose-red & sepia |Coral Tree Flowers (Erythina lysistemon)
**Perfin initials “D.C.”**

**1982 Fourth Definitive Issue (Architecture), South Africa**
Issued Jul. 15, 1982
Perf. 14 |Design: A.H. Barrett |Engraving: Arthur Howard Barrett |Litho. |Phosphorized paper |No Wmk
SACC524 |10c |Carmine brown |Pietermaritzburg Town Hall
*Perfin insignia “C C C” (or possibly “V V V”)*

**1923 United States of America (U.S. Presidents and prominent Americans)**
Issued Jan. 15, 1923
Perf. 11×10½ |No Wmk
Scott 562 A165|10c |Orange |James Monroe (5th U.S. President)
**Perfin insignia “WFH”**
**Pre-cancelled “Chicago IL”**
[Sources: stampworld, South African Colour Catalogue 2023-25, Scott 2003 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol. 1]

January 30, 2025January 31, 2025

Thurday/ a snake on a stamp

There was mail today, with a new Year Of The Snake forever stamp on, issued by the US Postal Service.

**2025 Lunar New Year—Year of the Snake**
Issued Jan. 14, 2025
Perf. 11 Serpentine Die-cut | Self-adhesive | Design: Camille Chew | Engraving: Banknote Corporation of America | Issued in sheets of 20
6376 FOREVER (73c) Multicolored | Lunar New Year – Year Of The Snake
[Sources: stampworld.com, USPS]

January 29, 2025January 31, 2025

Wednesday/ Happy Lunar New Year

Happy Lunar New Year— the Year of the Snake.
It sounds a little ominous, but I guess every year cannot be the Year of the Dragon.

The public art installation at the corner of Madison Street and 14th Avenue here on Capitol Hill is complete. (The installation is not specifically related to the Lunar New Year. The artist is Seattle resident Ben Zamora.)

January 26, 2025January 31, 2025

Sunday/ postmarks from S.W.A.

I sifted through a shoebox of envelope clippings to put together this set of postmarks from South West Africa*.

Windhoek is the capital, and the postmarks also show Keetmanshoop, Outjo, Koes, Maltahöhe, Okahandja, Oranjemund, Walvis Bay, Okaukuejo, Tsumeb, Kalkrand, Mariental, Swakopmund, Grootfontein, Karibib, Leonardville, Lüderitz, Omaruru, Otjiwarongo, Usakos, Aus and Stampriet.

*South West Africa became Namibia after its independence from South Africa in March 1990.

January 22, 2025January 31, 2025

Wednesday/ additions to my album

Is a stamp collection— any collection— ever complete?
One can always add objects that are ever-so-slightly different than the ones already in there.

Check out these additions to my South African stamp album, which is already a complete collection of all the issues by the South African post office*.

*The years 1910 to 2020, when the last postage stamps were issued.
Iceland stopped producing postage stamps in 2020 as well, and Finland has indicated it may soon follow suit.

I don’t carry whole stamp booklets in my stamp album, but these cute “razor blade” booklets with the art deco-ish fonts on their covers fit into the narrow plastic pockets that normally carry stamps, and voila! they are now part of my collection.
“Post your letters during the lunch hour” instructs the booklet on the back. Cute— but in 2025 we don’t really have lunch hours and definitely no letters to put in the mail anymore; a time now long gone

I modeled this page on a preprinted page I found online, of German stamp album producer Leuchtturm (hence the German descriptions for the colors, which I kept as-is, just for fun).

For an unknown reason, this is the only stamp in the series with a “hatched up” version of the text on the stamp (the “RSA 4c”, made up of stripes that go up from left to right), as well as a “hatched down” version.
Are they really different stamps? Of course they are.

One more example of a slight variation in one of the issues.
The 30c stamp in this series was printed on phosphorescent as well as non-phosphorescent paper, and therefore the two versions are also different stamps!
(I only had a pair of these stamps— no singles— and I don’t break up pairs, so the pair goes into the album as-is).
All other stamps in the series were printed on phosphorescent paper only.
One needs a UV-light to see the difference.

January 16, 2025

Thursday/ beautiful inside

It was my last day in Munich, and I ran out to Marienplatz one more time with the streetcar.
It was just about noon, and the glockenspiel* on the townhall’s clock tower played to a smattering of on-lookers that risked getting frostbite on their fingertips as they held up their phones to record a video of it. (I was one of them).
From Marienplatz I went to a few beautiful U-bahn stations on the U1 line to take pictures.

*The Rathaus-Glockenspiel is a large mechanical clock located in Marienplatz square, in old town Munich. Famous for its life-size characters, the clock twice daily re-enacts scenes from Munich’s history.

Here is a jousting scene depicted by the glockenspiel. One of the knights was mortally injured, and falls backward on the horse.

These enormous and dramatic lamp scones are at Westfriedhof on the U1 line.

And I made this yellow one appear to sit on top of the SOS pillar.

On the far end of the U1 line is the Olympia-Einkaufszentrum station. There are huge metal studs that line the wall, creating a spaceship-futuristic look.

Nearby, and also on the U1 line, is Oberwiesenfeld station with a black and white tile pattern on the one side ..

Candidplatz on the south end of the U1 line is painted in the colors of the rainbow.

January 15, 2025January 18, 2025

Wednesday/ snow on the ground

It started snowing at around 8 am this morning here in Munich, but it could not have been more than an inch an or so, from what I could tell.

I used the Line 19 streetcar again to get Hauptbahnhof (the main train station), and from there, ran out to Odeonsplatz and a comic book store on Fraunhoferstrasse.

The view from my hotel room (using my phone’s 5x zoom to zoom in on the Deutsche Bahn train maintenance station) at 8 this morning.

Here comes the Line 18 streetcar, at Am Lok-schuppen station.

At **Sendlinger Tor station**, I stepped off the streetcar and went underground to the U-bahn.
(The sidewalk surfaces were treacherous with the snow and ice, and there were no pedestrian crossings to speak of. Then I realized that is the other use of any U-bahn station: it’s an under passage for pedestrians to get from one side of an intersection to the other).

Here is **Odeonsplatz**, named for the former concert hall, the Odeon, on its northwestern side. The church is the Theatine Church of St. Cajetan and Adelaide (German: Theatinerkirche St. Kajetan und Adelheid)— a Roman Catholic church. It was consecrated 11 July, 1675.

Taking a closer look at the heraldic elements in the center (the lions and the white-and-blue checkered pattern is taken from the coat of arms of Bavaria).

Here is the nearby Hofgarten (Eng. ‘Courtyard garden’), established in 1613.

Back inside the **Sendlinger Tor** U-bahn station. I love the giant white saucer-shaped light fixtures.

This is a comic book store called **Comic Company** near Fraunhoferstrasse station.
I bought used three comic books for all of Є8.40. More books to weigh down my luggage but hey, I was still 10+ pounds under the weight limit with both my suitcases when I checked them in at Cape Town.

By the time I hopped off the Line 18 streetcar close to my hotel, the snow had started to melt.

January 9, 2025January 10, 2025

Thursday

Here is a selection of photos du jour.

There was no palm tree at this beach house that belonged to my family thirty years ago. My dad sold it in 1996 and some time after that it was turned into a self-catering guest house.

The 6-story atrium inside the **Beacon Isle hotel**.

This is a **western cattle egret** (Bubulcus ibis).

A decorative mask from Ghana, for sale in the Global Village art store here in Plettenberg Bay for US $184.

January 8, 2025January 9, 2025

Wednesday/ the Knysna waterfront

Knysna is a town on the Garden Route and 33 km (20 miles) west of Plettenberg Bay on the N2 national route.

The pirate ship on the Knysna waterfront offers a bar and snacks, and trips around the Knysna estuary up to The Heads and then back again for sunset.

There are many other kinds of watercraft in the marina, of course.

This is a view from a restaurant called Drydock Co towards the Knysna Heads: the headlands of two peninsulas that enclose and form the Knysna River Estuary.

This public art installation of bronze with a chromed finish is called “Zephyr”, and the artist is Stephan Raubenheimer.

January 3, 2025January 3, 2025

Friday/ Father Time

Happy Friday, the first of 2025.
Here is one more cartoon from South African newspaper Die Burger (“The Citizen”) by cartoonist Dr Jack.

Father Time 2024 to Baby 2025: “Behave yourself”
Pop-up Party Hippopotamus: “A beautiful year to all of you”

January 2, 2025January 3, 2025

Thursday/ fishes from Mozambique

I am buying stamps from South Africa and southern Africa now that I am here, and saving a little money in the process. (Stamps from this part of the world are sent to the USA by express airmail or by international courier— which can be $40 or more for one shipment. Surface mail takes several months).

I love this 1951 definitive issue from Mozambique, part of a set of 24 stamps.
At the time, Mozambique was still a Portuguese colony, and the currency was the escudo.

The fishies are going to swim in freshwater when I get them home, so that I can separate them from the paper that they are pasted on.

January 1, 2025January 1, 2025

Wednesday/ Happy New Year

It’s 2025!
Happy New Year!
The cartoon is from the South African newspaper Die Burger (“The Citizen”) and by cartoonist Dr Jack.

“Good news, swarrie*! Even though your barbecuing leaves a lot to be desired, we have decided to stay until after New Years”
“You may have to run out to the store today, since the brannas** is AGAIN running a little low. “
#$!&
Side Comment by the little hippopotamus: “House guests are like fish— after three days they start to stink”

*old brother-in-law; **brandy/ supply of brandy

December 25, 2024December 25, 2024

Merry Christmas

Christmas tree and Table Mountain in Cape Town South Africa.
[Image generated with Apple’s Image Playground app with text descriptions as input].

December 23, 2024December 24, 2024

Monday night/ to Munich, and south

A few weeks ago Lufthansa cancelled the direct Frankfurt to Cape Town flight I had reserved. They rebooked all of us on a short hop to Munich, to catch the Munich to Cape Town flight from there.

Pictures:
I ran into several more billboard pictures of “Venus” in Terminal A. Would you like to see all of them? (Of course you do. The “merivaglia” in the slogan “Open to merivaglia” is an Italian word that means “a wonder” or “beauty”).
That’s a Boeing 787-9 at the gate at Terminal A that took us to Munich. It’s a 45-minute flight due east.

December 22, 2024January 1, 2025

Sunday/ in Frankfurt

Here are a few pictures from today, as well as a few clippings from the Sunday newspapers.

This closed-for-traffic street across from the **Hauptbahnhof station** (main train station) is lined with restaurants from the Middle East and the Far East. **Döner kebab** is very popular in Frankfurt: a dish of Turkish origin made of meat cooked on a vertical rotisserie.

Inside the Hauptbahnhof. This train from regional operator Hessische Landesbahn GmbH (HLB) is a Bombardier Talent 2 model ET150 (a German manufacturer as far as I can tell, not the Bombardier that makes business jet airplanes). It is about to depart for Giessen, a 42-min trip to the north of Frankfurt.

Hello. A fluffy pup inside the food court at the Hauptbahnhof station.

My lunch from seafood franchise Noordsee. It’s Norwegian salmon. Very nice. An elderly woman took the seat across from mine.
“Ich spreche nur ein wenig Deutsch” (I speak only a little German), I said. It was a little noisy to carry on a conversation, anyway. As I got up, she pointed to my phone and said “Dein Handy” (your cell phone). Cute word— and appropriate— that handy thing called a “Handy” in German.

**Paulaner from Munich** also makes non-alcoholic beer now. (Weissbier is a wheat beer: a top-fermented beer which is brewed with a large proportion of wheat relative to the amount of malted barley (from Wikepedia). I will have some more when I stop over in Munich on the way back from South Africa.

Back at the Flughafen train station, and across the street some nice dinosaurs on the sidewalk walls promote the **Senckenberg Nature Museum** in Frankfurt.

“A MOOSE COW HAS ESCAPED FROM SCHONFIELDE WILD PARK”
“WELL, ONE CAN SPOT THEM EASILY, BIG AS THEY ARE .. “
” .. BUT THEY CAN STILL BE ASTONISHINGLY DIFFICULT TO FIND”
[Cartoon by Naomi Feam for newspaper Tagesspiegel]

A loose translation of a few paragraphs in this piece titled “**When trees and nerves are burning out/ How to survive Christmas nonetheless**” reads like this:
Christmas can be a pretty stressful time. We have baked cookies, made the Christmas wreath, drunk mulled wine at overcrowded Christmas markets— and what now? Now the time has come. The extended family is about to arrive. Or: you find yourself in a crowded train traveling across the country and have to split your time between Christmas Eve and Christmas Holiday because your parents are separated. Grandma Inge wants to see you again, and Uncle Bert and his new girlfriend have invited you to dinner. Once you have managed all of that, New Years Eve follows. You should be totally festive here, as well— but now with sparklers and a glass of champagne in hand. And heaven forbid it’s not a great party! In short, December is a seemingly endless series of social, personal and societal expectations and gatherings that could send you straight into end-of-the-year burnout. How the hell is one supposed to survive all of that?

This cartoon refers to the chaos in the German coalition government. (Chancellor Olaf Scholz lost a confidence vote, deepening the political turbulence in Germany).
“Are these all returns? Rejected by the electorate? And what is inside yours?”
“Candidates for chancellor”.
[Cartoon by Stuttmann for Tagesspiegel newspaper]

December 21, 2024December 22, 2024

Saturday/ the Christmas market

Hey, on this winter solstice day I made it to the Christmas market at Römerberg. It was cold and raining, though, and I did not stay very long.
(It did seem that the inclement weather increased the glühwein sales volumes!)

Pictures:
Entrance hall to Frankfurt Hauptbahnhof (main train station). There was a strong of police presence at the station. Hauptbahnhof station looked a little more ragged and rundown from the last time I saw it— especially the floors leading to the U4 & U5 subway lines’ platforms.
Poster for Messe Frankfurt (exhibition center) close by Hauptbahnhof station.
It’s two stops on the U5 subway line (turquoise train car) from Hauptbahnhof station to Römer/ Dom station to where the Christmas market is. The U5 is getting a 2.7 km (1.7 mi) extension that will open in 2027.
Last picture: the S9 regional train (red train car) arriving to take me back from Hauptbahnhof station to Flughafen (airport) station where my hotel is, a 14-minute ride.

December 17, 2024December 17, 2024

Tuesday/ rain

It has rained all day in Rain City.
It will rain on and off all week here, in the run-up to winter solstice.

Here’s an artificial intelligence (AI) generated image that I generated with Apple’s Playground application. I selected a day-time image of the Space Needle that I had on my phone, and added a text instruction ‘Space Needle in the rain’.

December 15, 2024December 15, 2024

Sunday/ school’s out

Here is today’s cartoon from South Africa’s Sunday newspaper Rapport.
The summer school holidays are underway in South Africa, and with it the exodus of the binnelanders* to the coast.
*Afrikaans word for those that live ‘inside’ the country— far away from the coast.

“And this?”
“I want to look up those words that dad will use on the road.”
About the car’s license plate: VAALIES = Old South Africa (pre-1994) nickname for inhabitants of Transvaal province, home to Johannesburg, and which is now called Gauteng (GP) province.
[Cartoon by Dr Jack for Rapport newspaper]

December 14, 2024December 14, 2024

Saturday/ elements on stamps

Here are stamps issued by South Africa that would be candidates for a themed collection of elements on stamps.
Given South Africa’s large mining industry, it is somewhat surprising that relatively few stamps with a mining theme have been issued.