FIVE: Postal History Boutique Special July Mailing

[Valentine Mark Herman]

Bonjour boys and girls!

 

Angie and Snooky told us yesterday that:

"This year July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. This apparently happens once every 823 years."

I propose that we celebrate it with a Postal History Boutique Special Mailing in July.

 

The theme is FIVE (or vijf, viisi, cinq, funf, cinque, fem, piec, cinco, etc)

 

There are 5 rules to this Mailing:

1. You must mail on Tuesday 5th July

2. On a pentagram shaped card (or on a pentagram superimposed on the front of an envelope)

3. Your piece must have a 5-theme (see below). You have to tell the Mailing List Co-ordinator (Guess who? Yes, me) what your 5-theme) is going to be

4. It must include at least one 5-cent (or local currency equivalent) postage stamp. [If a 5-cent stamp is unavailable, then a 15, 25, 35 etc stamp is acceptable, as long as it has a 5 in it.]

5. Er, I don't have a 5th rule yet...any ideas, gang?

 

Possible 5-themes are:

* Renault 5

* Chanel No 5

* 5 senses

* Take 5

* 5 wounds of Jesus

* 5 Olympic Circles

* The Famous Five

* 5 books of Moses

* High 5

* etc, including of course any other(s) that you care to choose.

 

Please let me know -- with your full mailing address, and the 5-theme you have chosen -- if you would like to participate in this once-in-a -823-year-occasion mailing* .

 

Regards, Val

 

* Regretfully, the Postal History Boutique cannot commit at this moment in time (ie now) to organise another mailing on this theme in 2834

 

[Plush Possum Studio-Rose McGuinn]

What a unique opportunity! I like your "Take 5". Perhaps we could send out 5 to the people on the list--or else 5 to anybody we feel deserves such an honor? 

The honor of 5..........

(cogitating)

[Plush Possum Studio-Rose McGuinn]

Oh, that's too bad! I'd so hoped we could all continue this tradition right on into 2834!

[Valentine Mark Herman]

What about bruddas?

Mail art recognises neither sexual boundaries or limitations, nor ghetto slang.

DJ Val Mix Xplosion

[Valentine Mark Herman]

Bonjour A&S!

If the super drive/90mph was addressed to me, well here's a multi-part reply:

i) the speed limit in France on autoroutes/highways is 130 kph, approx 80 mph -- but there is usally 10% leniency if you're caught speeding, so, yes 90 mph is the 'zooming rate'

ii) my 26 year old Citroen 2 CV, 'Oranje' (aka the orange sardine can) has a maximum speed of 110 kph (60 mph). When I go to the airport, I have to take note of the wind speed and direction as a strong head wind really slows it down

iii) before I got Oranje, I had a Porsche 944S, that had a maximum speed -- which I reached a couple of times -- of 260 kph (160 mph). the Porsche died, alas, when it's engine blew up going at a respectable 90 kph (55 mph).

Regards Val

[Jen Staggs]

85 would be great if I was the only one driving.  I tend to speed into that realm anyway...the cooper insists.  But I think it might only be legal in the desert parts of west texas, so we shall see.  There are some towns in Texas that smell SO bad, you can't drive fast enough through them.  They are full of feed lots and the whole town of Herferd, Tx stinks!!  85 will be a blessing!

[Valentine Mark Herman]

Bonsoir Speed Freaks! You might be interested to know that on most German autobahns/highways, there is no speed limit -- which goes a long way to explaining why there are so many fast Porsche, BMWs, Audi and Merc Benz superfast cars. Most of these German cars have a built-in speed limiter of 155 mph/250 kph. When the Berlin Wall came down in 1990, there was an 'invasion' of East German Trabants, that had a maximum speed of 55 mph (downhill with a following wind), but a real speed of about 40mph (with 3-4 people on board), usually hogging the middle of 3 lanes. With Porsches passing them at almost 4 times that speed, the roads were very, very dangerous.,

Toot toot, Val

 

[Steve]

Count me in Val

But keep nudging me if I seem too silent on this as the big day approaches.

[Valentine Mark Herman]

We are now 6 -- Steve, Katerina, Jen, A&S, Plush the Possum, and Val

[Valentine Mark Herman]

German motorway somewhere near Berlin, after the Wall has come down.

In the inside lane a Trabant going flat out at 55 kph. In the outside lane a large Mercedes Benz zooms past at 225 kph.

4 kms later the Trabant catches up with the Merc that is parked by the side of the road with smoke pouring from its bonnet ('hood' to you Americans). A rich and affluent (West) German is standing by the side of the car looking very anxiously at it.

The Trabant stops, and out of it gets a poor and scruffy (East) German wearing cycling shorts. As he gets out of the Trabby, he makes strange cycling movements with his legs.

"Can I help you?" he asks the Westie. "Thanks. My sauna has over-heated." "You have a sauna in your car?" "Sure do. It's big enough for 6 people,but it's gone wrong." "I can fix that easily", says the Eastie. And he does.

The Westie offers his thanks, and then takes off at great speed.

Next day. Same road, same two cars. Again the Merc is parked by the side of the road with smoke pouring out of it. The Trabby stops, the man -- still in cycling shorts, and still making strange cycling motions with his legs -- gets out and says, "What's wrong with your car today?" "Ah", says the Westie, "Today the home cinema has fused, and that's why there's smoke everywhere."" "You have a home cinema in your car?" "Yep -- it seats 24, and there's a cocktail bar there too." "Oh" says the Eastie, "I can fix that", and he does.

The Westie offers his thanks, and then takes off at great speed.

Day 3. Same road, same two cars. But this time the Trabant is parked at the side of the road with smoke pouring from it. The Merc stops. "What's wrong with your car?" says the Westie. The Trabby owner, this time wearing jeans, replies, "Well I just fitted in an engine into it, and somehow it doesn't work properly."

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Breaking news: also October will have 5 (five!) Saturdays and Sundays! (but only 4 Fridays)

[Valentine Mark Herman]

Which opens up the possibility of a 4-5-5 mailing, I suppose.

Regards Val (who is disappointed that no-one responded to his Trabbi joke)

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Trabant and the Mercedes...perhaps it should be made into a video on youtube? Sorry, Val, but ....

I do so love your Der-Sher-Vo!  ;-)