Valentine Mark Herman's Posts - International Union of Mail-Artists2024-03-19T05:09:34ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHermanhttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8499684088?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://iuoma-network.ning.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=1ewznkpod5d4j&xn_auth=noOldest surviving piece of post to be auctioned for $2 million (friom The Times of London, 11/01/2024)tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2024-01-11:2496677:BlogPost:28720792024-01-11T04:20:31.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>"The ornate letter sheet was stamped with a Penny Black, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, over 180 years ago</p>
<p>The earliest surviving piece of mail using a pre-paid postage stamp that was sent to a Cumbrian iron works is to be sold in New York.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 gaEeqC">The piece of postal history is a Mulready letter sheet that was stamped with a Penny Black, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, on May 2 1840. It was sent from London to the…</p>
<p>"The ornate letter sheet was stamped with a Penny Black, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, over 180 years ago</p>
<p>The earliest surviving piece of mail using a pre-paid postage stamp that was sent to a Cumbrian iron works is to be sold in New York.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 gaEeqC">The piece of postal history is a Mulready letter sheet that was stamped with a Penny Black, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, on May 2 1840. It was sent from London to the village of Dalston and then posted back again before the revolutionary items even became legal tender on May 6.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 gaEeqC">Described by an auction house as marking a “significant leap forward in the history of human communication”, the Mulready letter sheet was a way of indicating that postage had been pre-paid by the sender.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 gaEeqC">The stationery was sent to William Blenkinsop Jr, a 35-year-old iron works <span class="paywall-EAB47CFD">manager near Carlisle. He then appears to have “ingeniously repurposed” the letter sheet and used it to send a letter back to London. It covered over 400 miles finishing back in the capital before the Mulready and Penny Black were even officially introduced on May 6.</span></p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 gaEeqC"><span class="paywall-EAB47CFD">While the adhesive stamp became the mainstay of the world’s postal systems, the Penny Black was phased out within the year in favour of a new design. The Mulready with its ornate designs was widely mocked by newsagents who were fearful for their stationery trade.</span></p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 gaEeqC"><span class="paywall-EAB47CFD">While the original letter within the Mulready has been lost, the surviving letter sheet and stamp are to be sold by Sotheby’s in New York next month at an auction branded “The One”, dedicated to one-of-a-kind items. The letter sheet and stamp have an estimate of $1.5 million to $2.5 million.</span></p>
<div id="main-container" style="padding-bottom: 61px;"><div id="js-react-container"><div class="tc-view__TcView-nuazoi-0 fPjBcr"><div class="tc-view__TcView-nuazoi-0 fPjBcr"><div class="tc-view__TcView-nuazoi-0 responsive__ArticleMainStandardContainer-cbxka9-4 hSodol"><div><div class="tc-view__TcView-nuazoi-0 responsive__HeaderContainer-sc-15gvuj2-2 eSLGzL"><div class="responsive__HeaderTopContainer-cbxka9-5 hHNTxz"><div class="tc-view__TcView-nuazoi-0 responsive__HeaderContainer-cbxka9-2 HvzTP"><div class="tc-view__TcView-nuazoi-0 fPjBcr"><div style="font-family: TimesModern-Regular, TimesModern-Regular-fallback, serif; font-size: 20px; line-height: 26px; color: #333333; padding-bottom: 10px;" class="tc-text__TcText-sc-15igzev-0 kwFxdN"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The ornate letter sheet was stamped with a Penny Black, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp, over 180 years agThe earliest surviving piece of mail using a pre-paid postage stamp that was sent to a Cumbrian iron works is to be sold in New York</span></div>
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<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 gaEeqC"></p>Why is the number of Mail Art Projects getting fewer and fewer each year? At this rate, soon there won't be any at alltag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-12-15:2496677:BlogPost:28653902023-12-15T15:50:31.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<h2>Overview Mail-Art Projects</h2>
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<h2>Overview Mail-Art Projects</h2>
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<li><a href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2023/12/my-actualized-address-1.html"> My actualized address (1.09.2023):Bruno Chiarlone...</a></li>
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</div>US stamp sells for a record-breaking $2mtag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-11-14:2496677:BlogPost:28549732023-11-14T03:43:20.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67409534">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67409534</a></p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">A rare US postage stamp has sold for $2m (£1.63m) in a New York auction, setting the record for the most expensive single US stamp sold.…</b></p>
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<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67409534">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-67409534</a></p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">A rare US postage stamp has sold for $2m (£1.63m) in a New York auction, setting the record for the most expensive single US stamp sold.</b></p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">The famous red, white and blue "Inverted Jenny" stamp dates back to 1918 and originally cost 24 cents.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">Its fame is tied to both its rarity - only 100 were printed at the time - and also because the plane it depicts is printed in error upside down.</p>
<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">The Inverted Jenny stamp was part of a collection made to mark the start of regular airmail service.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">It features an image of the Curtiss JN-4 airplane in the center, though it is printed upside down in error. Only 100 of those inverted stamps were sold to the public, and they have since become highly coveted by stamp collectors globally.</p>
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<p></p>SNAIL MAIL... IS BAD FOR YOUR MAIL ART IN THE UK (from today's BBC News)tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-10-25:2496677:BlogPost:28380872023-10-25T09:18:29.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<h1 class="ssrcss-15xko80-StyledHeading e10rt3ze0" id="main-heading"><span>'Determined' snails eating villagers' mail</span></h1>
<div class="ssrcss-1pyuwv1-ComponentWrapper ep2nwvo1"><div class="ssrcss-1racmoo-Gist elaw8341"><div class="ssrcss-wdw1q-Stack e1y4nx260"><p class="ssrcss-gkmfsz-GistIntroduction elaw8340" id="gist-title"><strong>At a glance</strong></p>
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<h1 id="main-heading" class="ssrcss-15xko80-StyledHeading e10rt3ze0"><span>'Determined' snails eating villagers' mail</span></h1>
<div class="ssrcss-1pyuwv1-ComponentWrapper ep2nwvo1"><div class="ssrcss-1racmoo-Gist elaw8341"><div class="ssrcss-wdw1q-Stack e1y4nx260"><p id="gist-title" class="ssrcss-gkmfsz-GistIntroduction elaw8340"><strong>At a glance</strong></p>
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<li><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">Snails are nibbling on mail in a postbox in Lewdown, leaving marks on envelopes</p>
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<li><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">Royal Mail says the molluscs are being removed daily but are “determined”</p>
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<li><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">They're eating the glue that holds the envelope in its shape, according to a sign</p>
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<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">"Determined" snails have taken up residence in a postbox in Devon and have been nibbling the mail inside.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">A sign from Royal Mail said the molluscs were being removed daily in Lewdown but continued to get in.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">The snails are "eating the glue that holds an envelope in shape", it read.</p>
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<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">The sign has been on the postbox for at least four months, according to a Google Maps photo taken in July.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">The message taped to it said: "Whilst you are very welcome to continue using this postbox, we wanted to mention that your letter may not arrive without some nibble marks around the edges."</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">According to one villager, who did not want to be named, the overhanging vegetation on the wall encouraged the snails to invade. The problem had persisted for at least a year and had not been discussed by the parish council, they said.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">Residents can post their mail at the village post office, which has not yet been visited by snails.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">In Cornwall, residents of Marazion recently found their postboxes had been sealed off to keep invaders out <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2023/08/31/snail-mail-hits-cornish-town-after-molluscs-keep-eating-the-post-19423918/" class="ssrcss-k17ofw-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0"></a></p>
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</div>POSTAGE COSTS RISE AGAIN IN THE UK (extracts from BBC report, 02/10/2023)tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-10-03:2496677:BlogPost:28329792023-10-03T14:04:05.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<h1 class="ssrcss-15xko80-StyledHeading e10rt3ze0" id="main-heading">First class stamp price jumps to £1.25</h1>
<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">The price of a first class stamp has risen to £1.25 from £1.10, the third increase in the space of 18 months.…</b></p>
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<h1 id="main-heading" class="ssrcss-15xko80-StyledHeading e10rt3ze0">First class stamp price jumps to £1.25</h1>
<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">The price of a first class stamp has risen to £1.25 from £1.10, the third increase in the space of 18 months.</b></p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">Royal Mail blamed increasing cost pressures and the tough economic environment for the latest rise.</p>
<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">Royal Mail added that prices had to rise due to the lack of reform of the Universal Service Obligation (USO), which requires the company to deliver letters to all 32 million UK addresses six days a week.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">The price of a second class stamp remains unchanged at 75p.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">Letter volumes have fallen from 20 billion in 2004-05 to seven billion in 2022-23, the company says, while over the same period the number of addresses has risen by four million.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">In April 2022, the price of a first class stamp increased by 10p to 95p, and then in April this year the price went up to £1.10.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10"></p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10">***</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10"><em>An <strong>international</strong> UK stamp costs £2.20, or $2.66.</em></p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10"><em>In France, an <strong>international</strong> stamp costs $1.80 or $1.9</em></p>
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<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10"><em>Mail Art gets more and more and more expensive!</em></p>
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</div>BEWARE -- MOAN LISA IS BACK ON ONE OF HIS DERANGED MISSI0NS TO SABOTAGE IUOMAtag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-09-22:2496677:BlogPost:28300622023-09-22T13:35:11.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>Bonjour,</p>
<p>Some of you will, unfortunately, remember Moan Lisa who has been thrown out of IUOMA on more than one occasion. Others of you will, fortunately, not know about him.</p>
<p>I woud like to draw your attention to his current madness.</p>
<p>I have received two postcards from him (with an address in Kyrgystan (which is somehere in Central Asia, but the stamps are from Belgum).</p>
<p>The first has on the front this 'message': <em>"one two three four I DECLARE A MAIL ART…</em></p>
<p>Bonjour,</p>
<p>Some of you will, unfortunately, remember Moan Lisa who has been thrown out of IUOMA on more than one occasion. Others of you will, fortunately, not know about him.</p>
<p>I woud like to draw your attention to his current madness.</p>
<p>I have received two postcards from him (with an address in Kyrgystan (which is somehere in Central Asia, but the stamps are from Belgum).</p>
<p>The first has on the front this 'message': <em>"one two three four I DECLARE A MAIL ART WAR";</em></p>
<p>The printed message (in capitals) on the back of the card reads:<em>"JOIN ME IN WAR AGAINST THE FACSIST MAIL AR STATE OF RUUD JANSSEN'S IUOMA! MAIL ART SHOULD BE OPEN, NOT CONTROLLED! GO BACK TO ITS ROOTS! SHARE ADDRESSES OPENLY THROUGH THE POST LIKE RAY JOHNSON DID! DON'T SETTLE FOR A MAIL ART EMPEROR WHO DOESN'T EVEN MAIL ART! FUCK THE SYSTEM! MUCH LOVE, MOAN LISA;</em>"</p>
<p>The second has on it's front <em>"</em>IMMIGRANTS MAKE IUOMA GREAT";</p>
<p>On the back is this: <em>"PROTEST AGAINST CLOSED ACCESS TO IUOMA! DON'T LET RUUD JANSSEN SCREEN EACH AND EVERY PERSON WHO WANTS TO JOIN! A DEMOCRATIC MAIL ART UNION SHOULD BE OPEN TO EVERYONE, NOT JUST THE RICH AND POWERFUL! END FASCISM! LOBBY FOR ANNOYMITY ON IUOMA!"</em></p>
<p>Draw you own conclusions as to what these rants mean; I have no idea what he is raving about and have binned his postcards. I suggest that you do the same if he mails you.</p>
<p>Regards, Val</p>An international postage stamp in France will cost €1.96/$2.16 in 2024tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-07-31:2496677:BlogPost:28153462023-07-31T09:28:15.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>At the start of 2024, the price of an international postage in France will increase to €1.96 -- or $2. 16.</p>
<p>I used to be able to afford to send lots of mail abroad when stamps cost 50% less, but now my mail art sendings have to be severely curtailed -- for which I apologise in advance.</p>
<p>At the start of 2024, the price of an international postage in France will increase to €1.96 -- or $2. 16.</p>
<p>I used to be able to afford to send lots of mail abroad when stamps cost 50% less, but now my mail art sendings have to be severely curtailed -- for which I apologise in advance.</p>Extract from today's Sunday Times: Antarctica’s 23-year-old postmaster on sorting mail at the end of the Earthtag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-03-26:2496677:BlogPost:27795062023-03-26T09:30:00.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Clare Ballantyne grew up in Louth, Lincolnshire, and graduated from Oxford University with a master’s degree in Earth sciences in 2022. In June she and three others were selected from 4,000 applicants to travel to Port Lockroy on the remote Goudier Island in the Antarctic Peninsula. The UK’s most southerly public post office — known affectionately as the Penguin Post Office — is operated by the charity UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT). Ballantyne’s job…</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Clare Ballantyne grew up in Louth, Lincolnshire, and graduated from Oxford University with a master’s degree in Earth sciences in 2022. In June she and three others were selected from 4,000 applicants to travel to Port Lockroy on the remote Goudier Island in the Antarctic Peninsula. The UK’s most southerly public post office — known affectionately as the Penguin Post Office — is operated by the charity UK Antarctic Heritage Trust (UKAHT). Ballantyne’s job entails processing postcards sent by an estimated 18,000 tourists visiting the island annually as well as monitoring the effects of climate change on its penguin population.</span></p>
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<p><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>Penguin Mail Art??</em></span></p>The format of the new site is HORRIBLE!tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-03-03:2496677:BlogPost:27696062023-03-03T08:30:00.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>Please reset it in it's old and luch loved format.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Val</p>
<p>Please reset it in it's old and luch loved format.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Val</p>BEWARE 2 -- ANOTHER MAIL ART SPAMMER?!tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-03-01:2496677:BlogPost:27687612023-03-01T16:28:37.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p></p>
<div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"Dear</span> <em>(fill in name of person, organisation, association, local/regional/state/national government, etc)</em>,</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div dir="ltr">I am writing to you because I know that you share my interests in Mail Art (<em>fill in other actiivity, social cause,</em> <em>sport, cultural event, current affairs, etc</em>), and I wonder if you would like to exchange some Mail Art with me?…</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<p></p>
<div dir="ltr"><span style="font-size: 10pt;">"Dear</span> <em>(fill in name of person, organisation, association, local/regional/state/national government, etc)</em>,</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div dir="ltr">I am writing to you because I know that you share my interests in Mail Art (<em>fill in other actiivity, social cause,</em> <em>sport, cultural event, current affairs, etc</em>), and I wonder if you would like to exchange some Mail Art with me?</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div dir="ltr">I am a <em>(fill in age, and sex/gender/other, etc</em>) living in (<em>anywhere really -- it doesn't matter</em>). I like to send and receive Mail Art because it is <span style="text-decoration: line-through;">a perfect vehicle for me to scam y'all and rip people off.</span></div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div dir="ltr">I have always been interested in art in all it's forms.</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div dir="ltr">If you are interested in exchanging some Mail Art with me, please send me something, and I will reciprocate.</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div dir="ltr">There may be a problem in the short term because I am a bit short of money at the momen tas the cost of stamps has just doubled here;and that although I recently lost my job and am living on welfare, I am supporting my invalided mother and my alcoholic father; have recently paid a lot of money to cover my son's bail application (he was arrested for drug trafficking, again); my teenage daughter is pregnant, yet again; and my car needs a new engine and is off the road.</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div dir="ltr">Also the dog has bitten the PostPerson, again, and the Court has ordered me to pay him damages for physical and moral harm within the next 30 days (and the Post Office refuses to deliver post to my home until I do so).</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div dir="ltr">In fact, I am so short of money at the moment that maybe you can enclose a couple of $100 bills with your Mail Art?</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div dir="ltr">But if that is difficult send me your bank account details and I will get my bank to make it easy for you.</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div dir="ltr">Knowing that you are kind and sympathetic, I am sure that you will help me out and that we can then exchange some Mail Art, so please reply quickly -- and don't forget your bank account details!</div>
<div dir="ltr"></div>
<div dir="ltr">Peace and (<em>fill in Happy Xmas, Happy New Year, Dry January, Happy Easter, etc)</em>"</div>BEWARE!! "Mail Art" (not) spammer called 'Catherine O'Sullivan'tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-02-28:2496677:BlogPost:27679232023-02-28T10:41:39.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>Beware folks!</p>
<p>I was recently contacted by Catherine O'Sullivan who I had never heard of.</p>
<p>'I have seen your Mail Art, and would like to share some thoughts about Mail Art with you', she said.</p>
<p>'OK', 'I replied, 'What do you want to talk about?'</p>
<p>Then I got a follow-up saying she lived in the US (Denver, CO, I think) had been a nurse, was a religous person, was seriously ill, etc, and as I was a 'sensitive' person she would like to transfer some of her funds to me…</p>
<p>Beware folks!</p>
<p>I was recently contacted by Catherine O'Sullivan who I had never heard of.</p>
<p>'I have seen your Mail Art, and would like to share some thoughts about Mail Art with you', she said.</p>
<p>'OK', 'I replied, 'What do you want to talk about?'</p>
<p>Then I got a follow-up saying she lived in the US (Denver, CO, I think) had been a nurse, was a religous person, was seriously ill, etc, and as I was a 'sensitive' person she would like to transfer some of her funds to me before she died, if only I would give her my bank details, etc.'</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>Spam -delete!</strong></span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><strong>BEWARE!</strong></span></p>
<p> </p>From the BBC: "Ukraine's Banksy stamps feature art of Putin in judo match" (Follow the link to see the stamps)tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-02-26:2496677:BlogPost:27672112023-02-26T04:22:29.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">Ukraine has issued postage stamps featuring a mural by renowned UK graffiti artist Banksy to mark the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.…</b></p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"></div>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">Ukraine has issued postage stamps featuring a mural by renowned UK graffiti artist Banksy to mark the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion.</b></p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">The mural depicts a man resembling Russian President Vladimir Putin being flipped during a judo match with a young boy.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">The original art is on a house that was devastated by Russian shelling in the town of Borodyanka, near the capital Kyiv.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">A phrase with an abbreviated expletive addressing the Russian leader has been added to the bottom left corner of the stamps.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">Mr Putin is a judo black belt and an admirer of the martial art.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">Many Ukrainians see Banksy's mural as a metaphor of Ukraine's fierce resistance to the Russian invasion, which began on 24 February 2022.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">Queues were reported in Kyiv on Friday as residents rushed to buy the new stamps from the main post office, Holovposhtamt.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">"It's a very cool gesture for the world to understand Ukraine, that we remain in the spotlight," Maxime, 26, told the AFP news agency.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">She added that she was delighted to see a "first stamp from one of Banksy's works".</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-11r1m41-RichTextComponentWrapper ep2nwvo0"><div class="ssrcss-7uxr49-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">Banksy has produced art works on buildings in several Ukrainian towns that have been among the worst-hit during the ongoing war.</p>
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<p><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64774717">https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64774717</a></p>Letter arrives 105 years after being posted (extracts from an article in today's Times [of London])tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2023-02-17:2496677:BlogPost:27639092023-02-17T08:40:07.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV">How late has your post been recently? A few days? Weeks? Maybe a month? Strike action may be causing significant delays at present, but they are nothing compared to the time taken for one letter to make it from Bath to Crystal Palace which has finally arrived 105 years after it was posted.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV">It was originally sent by a Christabel Mennell, who seemed to be racked by guilt and wished to…</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV">How late has your post been recently? A few days? Weeks? Maybe a month? Strike action may be causing significant delays at present, but they are nothing compared to the time taken for one letter to make it from Bath to Crystal Palace which has finally arrived 105 years after it was posted.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV">It was originally sent by a Christabel Mennell, who seemed to be racked by guilt and wished to make amends with her friend, Katie Marsh. Mennell was on holiday at the time and therefore posted the letter from a house in Bath in February 1916. Sadly, Katie would never receive it.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV">It finally fell through the letter box of 18 Hamlet Road in 2021, where it was picked up by the present <span class="paywall-EAB47CFD">resident, Finlay Glen, 27, a theatre director.</span></p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV">Confronted with a stamp bearing the image of George V, which cost a penny in 1916, Glen swiftly realised that the Bath postmark did not refer to February 6, 2016.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV">“We were obviously pretty surprised and mystified as to how it could have been sat around for more than 100 years,” Glen told the BBC.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV">Glen’s mystification was shared by the Royal Mail. “Incidents like this happen very occasionally,” a spokesperson said, “and we are uncertain what happened in this instance.”</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV">The letter’s story has come to light after Glen kept it in a drawer for two years. Despite the legal difficulties of opening someone else’s mail, he felt that a 105-year-old letter was “fair game”.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV">Its contents seem to reveal an attempt to pour oil on the waters between two friends. Mennell, who was the daughter of a wealthy local tea merchant, writes on headed paper, where her presumably usual address of 31 Park Hill Rise, Croydon, is crossed out.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV">She writes to Marsh, who, perhaps ironically given this story, was the wife of a local stamp magnate who was often called as an expert witness at stamp fraud trials.</p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV"><span class="paywall-EAB47CFD">On today’s roads, the distance between Bath and southeast London is roughly 121 miles, meaning that the letter travelled at an average speed of 1.15 miles a year. A tortoise walking for eight hours a day would have covered that distance in just over 50 days.</span></p>
<p class="responsive__Paragraph-sc-1pktst5-0 fKDjKV"></p>I HAVE A NEW WEB-SITE..... val-herman-art.eutag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2022-11-21:2496677:BlogPost:27342622022-11-21T08:12:34.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>.....</p>
<p>...it has the same address as the former web-site, but is about 90% shorter, and, hopefully, 90% more accessible and informative.</p>
<p>Mail Art and, of course, IOMA are included in it. Look at:</p>
<p>i) the entry and text for 'Mail Art' on the Home Page; ('I make all sorts of art'. 'I produce all kinds of art', etc)</p>
<p>ii) the entry for 'Mail Art' at the extreme right of the top of the Home Page, click on it, and you will find some examples of my Mail Art over the…</p>
<p>.....</p>
<p>...it has the same address as the former web-site, but is about 90% shorter, and, hopefully, 90% more accessible and informative.</p>
<p>Mail Art and, of course, IOMA are included in it. Look at:</p>
<p>i) the entry and text for 'Mail Art' on the Home Page; ('I make all sorts of art'. 'I produce all kinds of art', etc)</p>
<p>ii) the entry for 'Mail Art' at the extreme right of the top of the Home Page, click on it, and you will find some examples of my Mail Art over the years.</p>THE EFFECTS OF COVID ON MAIL ART EXHIBITIONS/PROJECTStag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2022-10-30:2496677:BlogPost:27261472022-10-30T15:03:04.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p></p>
<p>Look at the figures below. There used to be lots of Mail Art Exhibitions/Projects -- anywhere between 120 and 230 each year, from 2007 to 2017.</p>
<p>Since Covid there are far, far fewer. And in 2022, as in 2021, there is likely to be less than 20. (That's 20 organised by the supposed 5,600+ IUOMA members plus other non-IUOMA Mail Aritists, as featured here)</p>
<p>Any ideas why this should be so?</p>
<p>Is Mail Art dying? Are Mail Art Exhibitions/Porjects becoming less relevant,…</p>
<p></p>
<p>Look at the figures below. There used to be lots of Mail Art Exhibitions/Projects -- anywhere between 120 and 230 each year, from 2007 to 2017.</p>
<p>Since Covid there are far, far fewer. And in 2022, as in 2021, there is likely to be less than 20. (That's 20 organised by the supposed 5,600+ IUOMA members plus other non-IUOMA Mail Aritists, as featured here)</p>
<p>Any ideas why this should be so?</p>
<p>Is Mail Art dying? Are Mail Art Exhibitions/Porjects becoming less relevant, less important, more difficult to hold? etc</p>
<p></p>
<ul class="hierarchy">
<li class="archivedate expanded"><a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2022/">022</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(14), as at 30/10/2O22</span><a href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2022/09/what-art-are-you.html"></a></li>
</ul>
<ul class="hierarchy">
<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2021/">2021</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(16)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul class="hierarchy">
<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2020/">2020</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(51)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul class="hierarchy">
<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2019/">2019</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(58)</span></li>
</ul>
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<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2018/">2018</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(95)</span></li>
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<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2017/">2017</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(122)</span></li>
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<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2016/">2016</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(119)</span></li>
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<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2015/">2015</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(113)</span></li>
</ul>
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<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2014/">2014</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(129)</span></li>
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<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2013/">2013</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(209)</span></li>
</ul>
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</ul>
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<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2011/">2011</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(170)</span></li>
</ul>
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<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2010/">2010</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(229)</span></li>
</ul>
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<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2009/">2009</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(205)</span></li>
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<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2008/">2008</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(231)</span></li>
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<li class="archivedate collapsed"><a class="toggle"><span class="zippy">► </span></a> <a class="post-count-link" href="http://mailartprojects.blogspot.com/2007/">2007</a> <span class="post-count" dir="ltr">(198)</span></li>
</ul>Flickering/Moving photos trigger epilepsy and...tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2022-03-21:2496677:BlogPost:26670742022-03-21T17:40:42.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>..I, for one, don't think they should be allowed on medical, let alone "I'm a Mail Artist, <strong>look at</strong> <strong>me"</strong>, grounds.</p>
<p>Sorry to be a spoil sport</p>
<p>Val</p>
<p>..I, for one, don't think they should be allowed on medical, let alone "I'm a Mail Artist, <strong>look at</strong> <strong>me"</strong>, grounds.</p>
<p>Sorry to be a spoil sport</p>
<p>Val</p>THE FIRST EVER POSTAGE STAMP (1840) -- only $6M +tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2021-10-27:2496677:BlogPost:26229942021-10-27T18:58:31.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>From today's <em>Times</em> (of London):</strong></span></p>
<p></p>
<h1 class="responsiveweb__HeadlineContainer-sc-1jw79sf-0 hGQexq css-4rbku5 responsiveweb__HeadlineContainer-sc-1jw79sf-0 hGQexq css-901oao r-1yqk5fa r-iirzy8 r-1ra0lkn r-1j8sj39 r-11mo1y0" dir="auto">First Penny Black stamp offered for £6m at Sotheby’s auction</h1>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL">The Penny Black has acquired such legendary status among…</p>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><strong>From today's <em>Times</em> (of London):</strong></span></p>
<p></p>
<h1 dir="auto" class="responsiveweb__HeadlineContainer-sc-1jw79sf-0 hGQexq css-4rbku5 responsiveweb__HeadlineContainer-sc-1jw79sf-0 hGQexq css-901oao r-1yqk5fa r-iirzy8 r-1ra0lkn r-1j8sj39 r-11mo1y0">First Penny Black stamp offered for £6m at Sotheby’s auction</h1>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL">The Penny Black has acquired such legendary status among stamp collectors that it has become a byword for rarity and value.</p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL">Now a London auction house is offering the penny black of Penny Blacks.</p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL">The first Penny Black ever produced is being offered by Sotheby’s with an estimate of up to £6 million. This would match the world record for a stamp, set by the British Guiana 1c, which sold for $8.3 million (£6 million) this year and $9.5 million (£5.6 million) in 2014.</p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL">Henry House, head of Sotheby’s Treasures sale on December 7, described the lot as an object “bursting with history” that was the earliest known example of a globally recognised design that had been “produced by the highest levels of technical excellence”.</p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL">“This is the first ever stamp, the precursor to all stamps, and unequivocally the most important piece of philatelic history to exist,” House said. “Though there are many hugely important stamps in collections both public and private around the world, this is the stamp that started the postage system as we know it.”</p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL"><span class="paywall-EAB47CFD">The Penny Black, the first stamp to feature glue on its back, inspired tens of thousands of stamps around the world and created the template for a form of communication still in place today.</span></p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL"><span class="paywall-EAB47CFD">***</span></p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL"><em><span class="paywall-EAB47CFD">I have a Penny Black that I amprpared to sell for the bargain price of £5m</span></em></p>
<p></p>AND FOUR YEARS LATER, IUOMA WAS STARTED. BECAUSE MESSAGES IN BOTTLES DIDN'(T GET DELIVERED QUICKLY?tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2021-09-18:2496677:BlogPost:26131402021-09-18T05:03:19.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>(From today's <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Times</span> [of London])</p>
<p>"</p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL">A glass bottle with a message thrown into the sea 37 years ago in Japan has been found washed up 4,000 miles away on a Hawaiian beach.</p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL">It had been cast adrift as part of a school experiment in 1984 to monitor ocean currents. Scrolls of paper written in English, Spanish and Japanese…</p>
<p>(From today's <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Times</span> [of London])</p>
<p>"</p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL">A glass bottle with a message thrown into the sea 37 years ago in Japan has been found washed up 4,000 miles away on a Hawaiian beach.</p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL">It had been cast adrift as part of a school experiment in 1984 to monitor ocean currents. Scrolls of paper written in English, Spanish and Japanese remained intact, Vice reported.</p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL">Abbie Graham, aged nine, spotted the mud-caked glass bottle among seashells while visiting Paradise Park in Kea’au. Her father, John Graham, told the <i>Hawaii Tribune-Herald</i>: “I thought it was trash and she thought it was treasure.”</p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL"><span class="paywall-EAB47CFD">The typewritten notes titled “The Ocean Current Investigation” explained that the bottle experiment was part of a project by the Chiba Prefectural Choshi High School natural science club, near Tokyo.</span></p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL"><span class="paywall-EAB47CFD">It said that “this bottle was thrown into the sea off the coast of Choshi, Japan, in July 1984” and asked the finder to tell the school the date and place, as well as the longitude and latitude of the discovery."</span></p>
<p class="responsiveweb__Paragraph-sc-1isfdlb-0 YieBL"><span class="paywall-EAB47CFD">France's <em>La Poste</em> delivers mail slightly quicker these days!</span></p>Mail Art and the Chagos Islands (which, I'm sure, y'all know are in the Indian Ocean). This is from the BBCtag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2021-08-25:2496677:BlogPost:26089812021-08-25T16:13:46.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">"Mauritius has moved a symbolic step closer to wresting control of the Chagos Islands, in the Indian Ocean, from the UK.…</b></p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"></div>
</div>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">"Mauritius has moved a symbolic step closer to wresting control of the Chagos Islands, in the Indian Ocean, from the UK.</b></p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">The Universal Postal Union (UPU), a UN agency in charge of the world's postal policies, voted to block the use of UK stamps from the remote archipelago.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">All post to and from the Chagos Islands must now bear stamps from Mauritius.</p>
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</div>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">The UK says it will not cede control until the islands are no longer needed for security purposes....</p>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">A set of pretty postal stamps showing sea slugs and angel fish might not seem like the sharp end of international diplomacy, the BBC's Africa correspondent Andrew Harding says.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i87"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">But he adds that the near unanimous vote by the UPU to make those stamps illegal worldwide, is a blow to Britain, and another sign of its growing isolation over its claim to the Chagos Islands"</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">****</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">And there was I just about to send some Mail Art with some British (and French) postage stamps on it to Yannick Sookree -- the only IUOMA member from Mauritius.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">But as Yannick stopped IUOMA-ing in December 2014, I won't bother.</p>
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</div>Mail Art can become very expensive, but I've got a few of these stamps if anyone would like a swaptag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2021-07-15:2496677:BlogPost:26005942021-07-15T11:00:00.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>From the BBC</strong></span></p>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i84"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">"An $8.3m (£6.2m) stamp is returning to the UK for the first time in 143 years, after being sold at auction to a British rare stamp dealer.…</b></p>
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</div>
<p><span style="text-decoration: underline; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>From the BBC</strong></span></p>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i84"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00"><b class="ssrcss-hmf8ql-BoldText e5tfeyi3">"An $8.3m (£6.2m) stamp is returning to the UK for the first time in 143 years, after being sold at auction to a British rare stamp dealer.</b></p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i84"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">The British Guiana 1c Magenta was bought by rare stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons last month.</p>
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</div>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i84"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">The dealer said that, gram for gram, the stamp is thought to be the most valuable man-made item in the world.</p>
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</div>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i84"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">It is the only survivor of a small batch printed on the former British colony British Guiana, now Guyana.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i84"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">The stamp, printed on magenta paper and measuring 29 x 26mm, bears a three-masted ship and the colony's motto, "We give and expect in return".</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i84"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">It went into circulation in 1856, when a shipment of stamps was delayed from London and the colony's postmaster asked printers to make three types of temporary stamp until the shipment arrived.</p>
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</div>
<div id="piano-inline1">Once it arrived, the postmaster ordered them to be taken out of circulation - but one of the one cent stamps survived.</div>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i84"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">It was discovered around 20 years later and returned to Britain for a short time, but was then sent to a collection abroad.</p>
<p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">It was discovered around 20 years later and returned to Britain for a short time, but was then sent to a collection abroad.</p>
<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i84"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">The stamp has been on display at the Smithsonian National Stamp Museum in Washington DC, on loan from its former owner, the US shoe designer Stuart Weitzman.</p>
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<div class="ssrcss-uf6wea-RichTextComponentWrapper e1xue1i84"><div class="ssrcss-18snukc-RichTextContainer e5tfeyi1"><p class="ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph eq5iqo00">It has marks from all of its previous owners, including the government of France and John du Pont, who was convicted in 1997 of murdering Olympic Gold Medallist David Schultz and died in prison in 2010."</p>
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<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9250868464?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/9250868464?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p></p>WISH YOU WERE HERE -- NOT! A COLLECTION OF BORING POSTCARDS.... from Val Herman and the Boring Postcards Grouptag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2021-03-01:2496677:BlogPost:25645172021-03-01T11:15:52.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8614761486?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8614761486?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a> This book nis now wavailable from amazon.com (and various other Amazon European sites). It's author is Valentine M. herman. The price is $46.00, which is a lot, but it contains 400 Boring Postcards and has 250 pages. All Mail Artists should buy a copy of the boo for themselves, their spoused, boy-friends and girlfriends, children, relatives, neighbours and…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8614761486?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8614761486?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a>This book nis now wavailable from amazon.com (and various other Amazon European sites). It's author is Valentine M. herman. The price is $46.00, which is a lot, but it contains 400 Boring Postcards and has 250 pages. All Mail Artists should buy a copy of the boo for themselves, their spoused, boy-friends and girlfriends, children, relatives, neighbours and pets.</p>
<p>Here is an extract from the Summary of the book:</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><font color="#000000"><font face="Times New Roman, serif"><font size="3"><span lang="en" xml:lang="en"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">For over a hundred years, postcards were one of the main forms of mass communication. They had many attributes. They were inexpensive, and cheaper to buy and send than letters. Although they were relatively small (about 150 x 100 cms), a short – if necessary, undemanding – message could be written on the, and enabled people to stay in contact. They had visual appeal -- often a photo in black and white, sepia or colour appeared on one side. And, in London, and other large cities, where there were up to five deliveries a day, if you sent a postcard in the morning you could receive a reply the same day – and often before lunchtime!In many ways the humble postcard was today's equivalent of an email, an sms, a Tweet, or a visual photo sharing platform like Instagram or Facebook.This book contains photos of 400 postcards from the pre-Internet era. Out of the thousands of postcards that the author has looked at over the years, he has deliberately chosen a selection of Boring and Dull Postcards, continuing in the footsteps of Martin Parr who produced three definitive books on Boring Postcards at the end of the 20th century. His choice of postcards has been facilitated by members of the International Union of Mail Artists (IUOMA) and the philosophy of the Dull Men's Club (DMC). In this book, Val Herman poses five questions about the Boring Postcards that come from all over the world. First, why did a photographer want to make a postcard of a particular boring subject? Second, why did some printer and some seller think they could make money from a Boring Postcard? Were they economically succesful? Third, why did anyone buy a Boring Postcard? Fourth, what messages – verbal, but especially visual – did the sender of the Boring Postcard mean to convey? Last, what did the recipient of the Boring Postcard make of the visual image and/or the verbal message?Whether you share the author's views that the postcards are boring and dull or interesting and gripping is a subjective experience.You may agree with him, or not.Look at the Boring Postcards. Read the short introductory texts to the 21 theme-specific chapters and decide for yourself.</span></span></span></span></font></font></font></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>This is my 3000th photo here at IUOMA!tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2021-02-23:2496677:BlogPost:25555522021-02-23T16:08:54.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>It is also my very first one, posted in September 2010 when I joined IUOMA.</p>
<p>Since then; another 2,999 -- 2.3% of all the photos here.</p>
<p>It's been a long and very enjoyable Mail Art journey.</p>
<p>And the show goes on...3001 et seq soon.…</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8589262664?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8589262664?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
<p>It is also my very first one, posted in September 2010 when I joined IUOMA.</p>
<p>Since then; another 2,999 -- 2.3% of all the photos here.</p>
<p>It's been a long and very enjoyable Mail Art journey.</p>
<p>And the show goes on...3001 et seq soon.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8589262664?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8589262664?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>SCRABBLE MAIL ART -- A NEW GROUPtag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2021-01-23:2496677:BlogPost:25261912021-01-23T09:16:28.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8468679295?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8468679295?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal;"><b>SCRABBLE</b> is one of the world's most popular board games. A game for anyone; family- and people-oriented; timeless; peaceful; social; and a great lockdown activity.It's sold in more than 120 countries, and there are 30 different language available. 150 million sets have been sold worlwide, and…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8468679295?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8468679295?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal;"><b>SCRABBLE</b> is one of the world's most popular board games. A game for anyone; family- and people-oriented; timeless; peaceful; social; and a great lockdown activity.It's sold in more than 120 countries, and there are 30 different language available. 150 million sets have been sold worlwide, and about 1/3<sup>rd</sup> of American and ½ of UK household have a set.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal;"><b>MAIL ART</b> is a passtime for everyone. Artist- and people-oriented; timeless; peaceful; social; and a great lockdown activity.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal;">Join me in the new Group....<b>SCRABBLE MAIL ART</b> (and use Scrabble and/or similar 'tiles'.)</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm; font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8468680267?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/8468680267?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>DULL AND/OR BORING?tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2020-09-22:2496677:BlogPost:24453302020-09-22T12:36:35.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7956213897?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7956213897?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I am a member of the British-based Dull Men's Club (DMC) – which also includes women, and, indeed, claims to have 35,000 + members worldwide. (<a href="mailto:membership@dullmensclub.com">membership@dullmensclub.com</a>)…</p>
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<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7956213897?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7956213897?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I am a member of the British-based Dull Men's Club (DMC) – which also includes women, and, indeed, claims to have 35,000 + members worldwide. (<a href="mailto:membership@dullmensclub.com">membership@dullmensclub.com</a>)</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">The DMC's “mission statement” is to 'celebrate the ordinary... the life-changing magic, of simple, everyday, run-of-the-mill things'. (<a href="http://www.dullmensclub.com/">www.dullmensclub.com</a>)</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">It's current Blogs include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Car Parks</p>
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<li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Telegraph Pole Appreciation Society</p>
</li>
<li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Manhole Covers</p>
</li>
<li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Wet Floor Signs</p>
</li>
<li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Drainspotters</p>
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<li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Post WW2 Prefab Houses</p>
</li>
<li><p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">(forthcoming: a blog by yours truly on French Shutters)</p>
</li>
</ul>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">One of the current Blogs features a British postcard collector who reckons that he has well over a million postcards amassed over 50 years, He admits “..I’m obsessive at times. Last year in Berlin I picked up 114 postcards of the old Berlin Television Tower, the tallest structure in Germany, third tallest in the EU. It was constructed in 1965 by the German Democratic Republic.”</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Which makes my, our, and Martin Parr's collection of Boring Postcards look pretty meager</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">One of the DMC's FAQ's (too many acronyms here!) asks:</p>
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<p>“<i>8. Are dull men the same as boring men?</i></p>
<p style="border: none; padding: 0cm;">“<i>Yes and no. Boring men are dull men. But not all dull men are boring men. Boring men are dull men who don’t know when to stop; they go on and on and on. ”.</i></p>
<p style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;">This dull/boring distinction led me to consult a book that I have been carrying around for 50+ years:</span> <i>The Nuttall Dictionary of English Synonyms and Antonyms.</i> <span style="font-style: normal;">(No doubt the 'Net will have zillions of other sources, but I will stick to my Old Favourite.)</span></p>
<p style="border: none; padding: 0cm;">“<span style="font-style: normal;"><u>Dull:</u></span> <span style="font-style: normal;">Tiresome,</span> <span style="font-style: normal;"><b>boring,</b></span> <span style="font-style: normal;">dry, uninteresting, barren, jejeune, fatiguing, tame, vapid, meagre, plain, dreary.</span></p>
<p style="border: none; padding: 0cm;">“<span style="font-style: normal;"><u>Bore</u></span> <span style="font-style: normal;">[but not 'boring']: Tire, weary, fatigue, vex, annoy, worry.”</span></p>
<p style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;">So, and in conlision, are our Postcards Dull and/or Boring? And, as I have argued from Day 1, do our Dull and/or Boring Postcards at some stage become Interesting Postcards?</span></p>
<p style="border: none; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7956214877?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7956214877?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-center"/></a></span></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p>PORTRAIT OF MARY -- an add-and-pass project inspired by Yoko Ono that needs a Mary to get it startedtag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2020-07-01:2496677:BlogPost:24158792020-07-01T02:50:48.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Yoko Ono was a supporter, but declined to bcome a member, of the early Fluxus movement. She embraced various dAdA ideas.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Her seminal book <u>Grapefruit</u> (1962) contained many references to the use of the mail to advance conceptual art, including the '<strong>Portrait of Mary'</strong> below.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">There are 28 '<strong>Mary's</strong>' currently members of IUOMA (including variations on the name…</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Yoko Ono was a supporter, but declined to bcome a member, of the early Fluxus movement. She embraced various dAdA ideas.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Her seminal book <u>Grapefruit</u> (1962) contained many references to the use of the mail to advance conceptual art, including the '<strong>Portrait of Mary'</strong> below.</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">There are 28 '<strong>Mary's</strong>' currently members of IUOMA (including variations on the name such as '<strong>Marya'</strong> and <strong>'Maryse</strong>').</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">I thought that one Mary might want to take up Yoko's idea, perhaps adapting it to a simpler 'add-and-pass' format.</p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><em><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Go Mary's go!!</span></strong></em></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b>"PORTRAIT OF MARY</b></p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><i>Send a canvas to a Mary in any country and ask her to paste a photograph. Have her send the canvas to a Mary of any country to do the same. When the canvas is filled up with photographs of Marys, it should be returned to the original sender. The name does not have to be Mary. It can also be a fictional name, in which case the canvas will be sent to different countries until a person with such a name will be found. The object to paste on the canvas does not have to be a photograph. It can be a numeral figure, an insect or a finger print.</i></p>
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<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">Spring 1962"</p>
<p style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">From Yoko Ono, <u>Grapefruit</u> (1964)</p>FOR NO IDEA'S MINI MAIL ART GROUPtag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2020-03-28:2496677:BlogPost:23904262020-03-28T15:03:16.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>Hi!</p>
<p>Please look at the Arty Slide International Group which I started in 2012. It was as Mini as I could think of then. We held 2 good Slide Art exhibitions in France. I still have the Arty Slides (somewhere!) that IUOMA colleagues contributed. Bianca has died, alas. I have gained a Stidio and moved to bigger bits of art.</p>
<p>Here is the text that started it all:…</p>
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<p>Hi!</p>
<p>Please look at the Arty Slide International Group which I started in 2012. It was as Mini as I could think of then. We held 2 good Slide Art exhibitions in France. I still have the Arty Slides (somewhere!) that IUOMA colleagues contributed. Bianca has died, alas. I have gained a Stidio and moved to bigger bits of art.</p>
<p>Here is the text that started it all:</p>
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<div class="xg_headline xg_headline-img xg_headline-2l" style="margin: 0px 0px 1em 5px; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; clear: left; overflow-wrap: break-word; color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><div class="tb" style="margin: 0px 0px 0px 76px; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit;"><h1 style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px !important; line-height: 1.2em; clear: none; font-size: 2.4em; font-weight: normal;">The origins of Arty Slides</h1>
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<div class="xg_module_body" style="margin: 0px 0px 1px; padding: 5px; line-height: inherit; clear: left; xg-p: relative; overflow-wrap: break-word; zoom: 1; color: #000000; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial;"><div class="discussion" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; xg-p: relative; zoom: 1;"><div class="description" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.7em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1.2em; text-overflow: ellipsis; overflow: hidden;"><div class="xg_user_generated" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important;"><p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.4em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important; min-height: 1em;">Some artists have studios.They are lucky.Some artists can make<span> </span><b style="font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important;">BIG</b><span> </span>works of art in their studios.I don’t have a studio. I can’t make big works of art.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.4em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important; min-height: 1em;">At the top of our house I have a Study that I sometimes refer to as my ‘Permanent Installation’. (Other people are less, much less, flattering about it, referring to is as, for example, ‘Val’s junk room’.)</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.4em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important; min-height: 1em;">The Mission Control Centre of my Study is my Desk. I have had it for almost 45 years, and it is where all of my literary and artistic works are created.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.4em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important; min-height: 1em;">It is not very big, and indeed the writing surface is only – and I now stop to measure it – 116 by 38 cms, or 44 by 15 inches. Anything and everything I do must be done within and on that very limited space.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.4em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important; min-height: 1em;">But I don’t always have 116 by 38 cms or 44 by 15 inches of space on the Mission Control Centre’s working surface because I have to share it with Bianca – my large black cat – who, when she stretches out and goes to sleep, takes up at least half of the available space. I don’t know exactly how much working room I have when Bianca is asleep on my Desk but as she takes up between a third and a half of it it’s not very much.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.4em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important; min-height: 1em;">And so I have a very limited working surface, and that is why all of my works of art -- envelopes, postcards, even collages and assemblages – are on a small scale.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.4em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important; min-height: 1em;">I have recently downsized my art accordingly, and am now working on what I call<span> </span><b style="font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important;">‘Arty</b><span> </span><b style="font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important;">Slides’.</b><span> </span>These are miniature works of art that fit into a 35mm photographic slide. (Remember film? Remember slides?)The available working space is 35 by 23 mm. That’s all. The art has to fit into that space, and a bit more can be fitted onto the frame itself.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.4em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important; min-height: 1em;">Each Arty Slide is made up of a visual image taken from, inter alia, old cigarette cards, postage stamps, Victorian studio portrait cards, my drawings and aquarelle paintings, clippings from books and magazines, adverts and packaging material, etc.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.4em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important; min-height: 1em;">So far I have developed Arty Slides in two formats: i) the standard 35 by 23 size, ii) a double size (2 x 35 by 23) obtained by opening out a photographic slide.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.4em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important; min-height: 1em;">I typically display the Arty Slides in groups of 3 double size ones, and sometimes add a standard Slide to a threesome. The possibilities of combining Arty Slides in different groups of 3 are almost endless, and it’s interesting to explore different combinations, whether linked by a common theme or not.</p>
<p style="margin: 0px 0px 0.4em; padding: 0px; line-height: inherit; font-size: 1em; xg-p: static !important; min-height: 1em;">Two last points. 1. it’s very hard to get hold of photographic slides as they haven’t been produced for many years. Every weekend I search flea markets for them, but am seldom lucky enough to find any. 2. it’s possible to make even smaller Arty Slides using the <span>half frame 35mm format</span></p>
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</div>WHAT IS HAPPENING TO YOUR NATIONAL MAIL SYSTEM?tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2020-03-19:2496677:BlogPost:23885152020-03-19T16:03:34.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>I wonder what is happening to your national mail system?</p>
<p>In my small village in the South of France, there is sporadic delivery of mail. The local Post Office is closed, and people are directed to one about 10 miles away -- but there is a 'lockdown' on almost all travel, and it's far from clear that a trip to this Post Office to send off some Mail Art would be accepted by the authorities (and, if not, would result in a €135/$150 fine).</p>
<p>The only shop that sells stamps in the…</p>
<p>I wonder what is happening to your national mail system?</p>
<p>In my small village in the South of France, there is sporadic delivery of mail. The local Post Office is closed, and people are directed to one about 10 miles away -- but there is a 'lockdown' on almost all travel, and it's far from clear that a trip to this Post Office to send off some Mail Art would be accepted by the authorities (and, if not, would result in a €135/$150 fine).</p>
<p>The only shop that sells stamps in the village has sold out of them and doesn't know when, or if, it will get some more.</p>
<p>So mail comes in sometimes, but it's very difficult to send Mail -- Art or otherwise -- out.</p>
<p>The lockdown is initially for 2 weeks, but methinks that this is a very optimistic time-frame indeed.</p>Neil Innes, RIP. Doo-Dah and Dadatag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2020-01-02:2496677:BlogPost:23702282020-01-02T17:35:37.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>Neil Innes died just before Christmas.</p>
<p>He wrote the music and many of the lyrics for the Monty Python TV series and films.</p>
<p>He also played in a number of groups, one of which -- a group of art school students -- was the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (which I remember seeing in a three-quarters empty Civi Theatre in Darlington, England, in the 1960's).</p>
<p>The Band was originally called the Bonzo Dog Dada Band, but no one got the reference to Dada, so it was renamed the Bonzo Dog…</p>
<p>Neil Innes died just before Christmas.</p>
<p>He wrote the music and many of the lyrics for the Monty Python TV series and films.</p>
<p>He also played in a number of groups, one of which -- a group of art school students -- was the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band (which I remember seeing in a three-quarters empty Civi Theatre in Darlington, England, in the 1960's).</p>
<p>The Band was originally called the Bonzo Dog Dada Band, but no one got the reference to Dada, so it was renamed the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.</p>
<p>Later it became the Bonzo Dog Band.</p>
<p>So much for Dada.</p>
<p>And Doo-Dah.</p>
<p></p>BORING POSTCARDS -- FROM ALAN BRIGNALL (for others see the Boring Postcards Group)tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2019-11-30:2496677:BlogPost:23634782019-11-30T17:27:46.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>1. Heathland Caravan Park, Lowestoft, England -- a remarkably composed Boring Postcard, lots of fields, a bit of sea, but all you can see (if you are in a plane or a helicopter) of the caravans are some white dots</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748713124?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748713124?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a> 2. Staircase at Hotel de l'Avenir, Heyst-sur-Mer, France -- this hotel obviously had a future as it boast its electric lighting…</p>
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<p>1. Heathland Caravan Park, Lowestoft, England -- a remarkably composed Boring Postcard, lots of fields, a bit of sea, but all you can see (if you are in a plane or a helicopter) of the caravans are some white dots</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748713124?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748713124?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a>2. Staircase at Hotel de l'Avenir, Heyst-sur-Mer, France -- this hotel obviously had a future as it boast its electric lighting</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748716474?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748716474?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a>3. Names of Beach Huts at Brightlingsea, Essex, England. (Boring note: this card was printed in Wivenhoe where Alan lives and works at the nearby University of Essex, and where I used to live and studied and taught at the same University, but not when Alan was there).</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748720132?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748720132?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p></p>BORING POSTCARDS -- FROM KATERINA (for others see the Boring Postcards Group)tag:iuoma-network.ning.com,2019-11-30:2496677:BlogPost:23633092019-11-30T17:00:00.000ZValentine Mark Hermanhttps://iuoma-network.ning.com/profile/ValentineMarkHerman
<p>1. Workers'Buildings In Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 1965 -- there were lots of workers</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748698300?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748698300?profile=RESIZE_710x"></img></a> 2. From the Greek island of Skiathos -- 2 boats and one group of people in the middle of the beach (why are they in the middle of the beach?)…</p>
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<p>1. Workers'Buildings In Plovdiv, Bulgaria, 1965 -- there were lots of workers</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748698300?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748698300?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a>2. From the Greek island of Skiathos -- 2 boats and one group of people in the middle of the beach (why are they in the middle of the beach?)</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748699465?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748699465?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a>3. From the Greek island, Samothrace -- view of Chora -- with not much happening there</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748703796?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3748703796?profile=RESIZE_710x" class="align-full"/></a></p>