#20: Macedonia; Real-Posted Cover with Angry Fish – Not Willing To See Each Other’s Face Even :(

WOW!!! Fish also have human-like expressions. For instance just see these two fish on the cover posted from Macedonia. They look as angry as two humans who have sworn not to see each other’s face after a quarrel. Isn’t it so??? :)

This beautiful cover was waiting for a long time to be posted on the blog. I received it in 2007. Its a really beautiful cover from Skopje, Macedonia.

The two fish stamps on the cover are part of a set of 4 fish stamps issued by Macedonia Post in 2007. It sure is a magnificent set of Fish Stamps from Macedonia.

#19: France; Harry Potter Stamps 2007

I absolutely love this cover from France. The cover features characters from my favorite book series – “Harry Potter”. I started reading the first part of the book on the recommendation of a younger sis and could not quit reading until I was finished with all the seven parts of the series.

I have also gone through the initial movies of the series. Although they are magnificently made but still they are NO match to the books. JK Rowling definitely Rules!!!

The above stamps were issued by France on 17 March 2007. "Fete Du Timbre" printed on the stamps means "Celebration of Stamps". The three stamps feature Harry Potter (Two stamps on Left), Hermione Granger (Top right) and Ronald Weasley (Bottom right).

The remaining stamps pasted on the cover were issued in 2005. The French stamps of 0.01 and 0.05 Euro feature Marianne. Marianne is a symbol of Republican France. A Marianne is a portrait of a proud and determined woman wearing a "Phrygian Cap". She symbolizes the attachment of the common citizens of the revolution to the Republic - Marianne is liberty, egality and fraternity. The one shown on these stamps is Lamouche Marianne. Thanks to Contesse Eric for this beautiful cover.

Another miniature sheet was also issued on the occasion which I have already shared in a previous post. It can be seen here:-

Harry Potter Miniature Sheet from France 2007

#18: Pakistan: 100th Anniversary of Powered Flight (1903-2003)

Here is a beautiful FDC from Pakistan. It is a lovely cover issued on the centenary celebrations of the First Powered Flight in 2003. 2003 marked a historic year in aviation. On 17 December 1903, the sands of Kitty Hawk, North California witnessed a breathtaking spectacle in human history. On this epoch-making date, a 100 years ago, two brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, stunned the world by staging a successful flight in their first piloted biplane. Their intense preoccupation with flying was fuelled not by economic necessity but mostly from their imaginative determination to cross one of the last technological barriers to human flight-stability in the air. The event changed the course of history. The year 2003 therefore was a year to celebrate the past and embrace the future.

At the dawn of the centennial year of powered flight on 17 December 2003, aviation technology has traversed a long distance, interspersed with phenomenal strides, over the past one hundred years. This is true of all kinds of aviation-commercial, general , military and space-focused. In just 100 years man has progressed from those first hesitant hops to conquering the globe and beyond it into space. Distances have amazingly shrunk, and man has already stepped on the moon. Every place on earth is now only hours away-rather than weeks or months before the aeroplane. The story of the preceding century is one of unceasing innovation, vision and outstanding courage in unlocking the secrets of flight and extending the boundaries of performance.

Air power, it appears, has acquired for itself the mantle of authority to fulfill the prophecies of its ardent advocates like Glulo Douhet, and perhaps exceeds his vision of the potential of air bombardment. Winston Churchill, minced no words in acknowledging the role of air power when he stated:

"For good or ill, air mastery is today the supreme expression of military power. And fleets and armies, however necessary and important must accept subordinate rank. This is a memorable milestone in the march of man."

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of powered flight, 2 x commemorative postage stamps were issued by Pakistan Post which reflect its deep sense of belonging to this historic moment. The set is one of my personal favorites. I absolutely love them.

Buy A Place on Earth and Take Your Business or Blog to the Next Level

After a long time, yesterday I came across this beautiful website which struck my imagination. The idea behind the website is so intriguing and unique that I could not resist sharing it with all of you. I have spent hours finding various places, exploring different towns and watching magnificent monuments on Google Earth but even then I had never thought of this matchless plan.

The website offers a 3D Earth which is available for advertising purposes. You can avail this opportunity and buy a place on earth to advertise your business or hobbies. While it is becoming extremely difficult to buy some land in real world, you can lay your hands on this gorgeous prospect to buy a chunk of 3D earth. Complete earth is available for sale and you can become the proud owner of any city, country, continent or ocean. You can even purchase entire planet and place your company logo on it.

The basic idea of the site is based on 3D Pixel Advertising. It is a distinctive initiative to use earth for advertising purposes. I went through the site repeatedly and every time I discovered fresh reasons to use it to advertise my blog. Some of these motives are as follows:-

1. The uniqueness of the idea offers a great opportunity for the business holders and blog owners because your business space will be viewed by billions of users around the globe. 3D Earth can be spun or zoomed to view the ads closely. Its 3D format makes it interesting and attracts audience from every corner of the planet.
2. The place you buy today will display your ad forever. Above all you do not have to pay monthly or yearly fees afterwards.
3. The price of the space on the 3D earth is extremely low, which enables you to buy large pieces of land to promote your business.
4. 3D pixel advertising attracts more visitors than any other form of advertising. The pictures/ logos provided by the business owners will be placed on earth. By clicking these pictures/ logos, your visitors will be able to access your web space. It has proved to be a highly respected form of advertising.
5. 3D Earth can work as a matchless web directory in an exclusive and unparalleled way.

Although this post is not related to my blog theme but still I could not resist the idea of buying a place on Earth. I know that it is tough to compete in today’s business environment but this beautiful website provides you a chance to stand tall among your competitors. The site is advantageous to long term businessmen as well as to the blog owners/ forum moderators who want huge traffic to their places.

So to book your land on 3D Earth, you can visit “Buy a Place on Earth” now and take your business to the next level.

1st Cool Cover Competition - Participate & Win Cool Prizes

I wanted to start my 1st Cool Cover Competition since long but due to some commitments I could not do it earlier. The main purpose of this competition is to thank everyone who visits this blog and enjoys reading it. My regular visitors are of course my treasured friends.

It is just a way to thank all my collector and non-collector friends who have supported me in this journey of collecting.

For this Blog Competition we shall have a scoring system as mentioned below:-

Contest Details:

1. Comment on My Cool Cover Collection Blog . Any post. 5 points per comment. Limited to 5 per day. (Comment must consist of at least 20 words)

2. Comment on my other two blogs: "My Cool Postcard Blog" & "I Love To Swap. Do You Too?". Any post. 10 points per comment. Limited to 10 per day. (Comment must consist of at least 20 words)

3. Comment on any other Collector's blog with a link to "My Cool Cover Collection Blog " . Post the link to my blog for verification. Any post. 10 points per comment. Limited to 10 per day.

4. Blog about My Cool Cover Collection Blog . Include 2 links, one to the homepage (http://mycoolcovercollection.blogspot.com/) and 1 to any post. 30 points

5. Link back to my homepage (http://mycoolcovercollection.blogspot.com/) with anchor text "My Cool Cover Collection Blog". 10 points

6. Blog about the contest and list the three blogs: My Cool Cover Blog , My Cool Postcard Blog & I Love To Swap. Do You Too? with links to the 3 blogs. 30 points!

It is NOT mandatory to use all the above methods to earn points. You can use the methods which are comfortable for you.

Comment here to let us know what you did and the total points due to you. This is important as I rely on this step to verify this and accord you with your accumulated points in this blog contest.

Here is the prize list. Be sure to visit all our blogs and comment on them!

Cool Winner #1
5 x Beautiful FDCs from Pakistan. (Will be posted anywhere in the World FREE of cost inside another envelope with Beautiful Stamps)

Cool Winner #2
3 x Beautiful FDCs from Pakistan. (Will be posted anywhere in the World FREE of cost inside another envelope with Beautiful Stamps)

Cool Winner #3
2 x Beautiful FDC from Pakistan. (Will be posted anywhere in the World FREE of cost inside another envelope with Beautiful Stamps or otherwise)

Cool Winner #4
2 x Scenic Postcards from Pakistan (All efforts will be made to meet the thematic requirements of the Winner)

Cool Winner #5
1 x Beautiful Postcard from Pakistan (All efforts will be made to meet the thematic requirements of the Winner)

Encouraging Prizes:
5 of the Top 25 collectors will be picked up as Winners for a complimentary prize using a lottery system. (Surprise Gift)

Final Words

This blog contest will end on August 20, 2009 at 11:59 PM (Blog Time) and the winners will be announced in a day or two thereafter. Thanks in advance for your support and participation.

Have Fun!

Contest will end August 20, 2009 at 11:59 PM (Blog Time).

7200+ Unique Visitors

What a treat to watch your blog visitors grow while you are not getting much time to update it regularly. I'll soon try and upload many new covers and stamps on my blog. In the mean while, Stay Happy & Have Fun.

Feel free to visit my Postcard blog as well at "My Cool Postcard Blog"

Relax and Enjoy

Cover #17: Cricket Postmark from Pakistan

Back after a brief pause.

Here is a beautiful cover with a commemorative postmark issued on the event of the 3rd Test Match between the cricket teams of traditional rivals on the pitch - Pakistan & India. The match took place in Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium from 13-17 Apr 2004. The cricket themed postmark shows a batsman playing a shot in front of the wickets.

A very strong Indian Team won the 3rd Test and marked their first test series win in Pakistan after 15 years against a then under-transition Pakistani Team. India won by an innings and 131 runs - Huge victory for them on Pakistani soil.

Since there was no special cover or stamp issued on the occasion and only a postmark was issued thus I have used a sports related cover (FIFA Centenary Celebrations 2004) and one of the stamp of the series of stamps issued for 9th SAF games, 2004 depicting two wrestlers in the ring.

Frozen Paradise: Early Summer Scenes of Lalusar Lake in Naran Valley

Coming over to the highlight of the visit - Travelling to the partially frozen Lalusar Lake. Extremely hot weather in Southern Pakistan has failed to do any harm to the magnificent Lalusar Lake. The first picture shows the Northern portion of the lake where the lake is almost completely frozen because of the lack of direct sunlight falling on it.

Another nice photo of northern portion of the lake. A huge glacier can be seen falling directly into the lake.

The middle portion of the lake is filled with clear green water with a couple of ice bergs floating on it. Pure natural beauty without a blend of pollution caused by mankind.

The southern bend of the lake completely covered with white sheet of snow. Beautiful, isn't it?

The southern portion of the lake is partially frozen. In fact a few of the icebergs are roaming around in the water. My dad absolutely loves this place.

My Beautiful Pakistan - Kaghan/ Naran Valley

Some beautiful natural springs which can be seen while travelling from Jalkhad to Besal in the Naran Valley.

A memorable view of Payala Lake (Bowl Lake) - A very small but round lake which looks like a bowl. Although not much of a lake is present at this time of the year as the BOWL is filled with snow, some of it even spilling from the edges. In summers, it becomes a perfect round lake with crystal clear water. It is almost in the middle of the picture, extending towards left and climbing a bit on the mountain.

Can a place be more beautiful than this one? A perfect blend of brown ground, green grass/trees, white snow, grey sky and bluish-green water. I absolutely love it!!!

Pakistan: The Most Beautiful Place in the World

I recently got a chance to visit the beautiful Kaghan Valley once again. It was as beautiful as ever. Here I would like to share some nice pictures of the visit and I am sure that you will like these photos.

The first one is a beautiful landscape where the sky is covered with low clouds. Small glaciers can also be seen coming down from the mountains. Water is as clear as ever.

Nature at its best: Enjoy this beautiful snap which is a perfect example of co-existence between animals like horses, sheep, etc. A huge glacier in the background has added color to the greenery on the ground.

Horses roaming around in the vast lands near Barawai in Kaghan/ Naran Valley.

Wait for more because the Best Pictures are yet to come.

100 Unique Countries Visiting the Blog - Another Landmark in Blogging

My blog has achieved another landmark in blogging. On 12 June 2009, Jamaica became the 100th country to visit the blog since its inception. On the same day, Ghana also visited to raise the count to 101. Its fun blogging.

USA: 1st country with 500 Unique Visitors on the blog

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! 

500 Unique Visitors from an individual country have visited my blog and the country is USA. Even Pakistanis have not visited in such huge number. Only 424 Visitors from Pakistan have taken a trip to my place. 

The traffic to my blog has also been steady for the past few weeks. It is turning out to be GOOD. The total number of page views are more than 5400 now.

Cover #16: Estonia: Beautiful Sports Stamps

An absolutely beautiful cover from Estonia is here with wonderful sporting stamps. The cover was sent by Kriistina from Estonia and contained some really beautiful used stamps, a FDC and a card. All are beautiful.

The 3 stamps on the left form a complete set of of three commemorative stamps issued on the occasion of the 1st Baltic Sea Games held under the aegis of the International Olympic Committee in a number of Estonian towns from 23 June to 4 July 1993. The description of the 3 stamps is as follows:-

• The 60 s stamp (on the left) features wrestling, one of Estonia’s most successful sports in the first half of this century. Famous Estonians wrestlers include the professionals Aleksander Aberg, Georg Lurich and Georg Hackenschmidt from the early 1900s, as well as the Olympic gold medal winners Kristjan Palusalu (1936) and Johannes kotkas (1952).
  
• The 1 kr + 25 s stamp features a Viking ship with a sail carrying a map of the Baltic sea area, and the colours of the participating nations in the shape of warrior shields lining the side of the ship.
  
• The figure of the shot putter on the 2 kr stamp actually represents Kalevipoeg, the hero of the Estonian national epic. Kalevipoeg’s victory over his brothers in a stone-throwing test of strength by which he come to inherit his father’s kingdom is one of the best known episodes of the 19th century poetical work.
  

The magnificent stamp on the right top of the cover was issued on 4 May 2004 by Estonia. It's a EUROPA stamp promoting vacations The relatively brief Estonian summer provides enough, various opportunities of spending the leisure in a pleasant way. As Estonia is a maritime country, the holiday is often connected with the sea. There are numerous beautiful beaches, notably in Pirita, Pärnu, Haapsalu, Toila etc. Besides sunbathing, a day on the beach offers opportunities of more athletic activity as well, windsurfing or yachting being just two options out of many. Both require skill, strength as well as an adventurous spirit. A day under the sails, breathing salty sea air, can be a unique experience.

Cover #15: Breeds of Dogs of India: FDC

A very beautiful FDC from India with a set of 4 gorgeous dog stamps. Stamps  featuring 4 different breeds of dogs include following:-

• Himalayan Sheep Dog (Left-most stamp)
• Rampur Hound (2nd stamp from left)
• Mudhol Hound (3rd stamp from left)
• Rajapalayam (Right-most stamp)

The 4 dog breeds from India are also featured on the left side of the First Day Cover while the postmark features only three of them. Which one is missing is hard to tell..... At least for me... :)

The series of stamps on Indian Breeds of Dogs was released at the 5th National Dog Show of the Kenel Club of India in Chennai on 9 January 2005. The postmarks on the cover are from the capital - New Delhi.

Indeed a magnificent cover! Isn't it? What do you say???

Cover #14: Pakistan: FIFA Centenary Celebrations 2004

Here is a beautiful FDC issued by Pakistan Post on the eve of FIFA Centenary Celebrations on 21 May 2004.  The FDC sports a set of 3 stamps with Rs 5 denomination each. The cover depicts three abstract soccer players running after the magic ball. The beautiful postmark cancellation also shows a football in the center.

Football is considered an easy game to be played by any faction of the society. The love of football can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere, no matter how skilled a player you may happen to be. You just require a football to enjoy the ecstacy of this magic game.

Over the past 100 years, football has taken root as the world's most watched and played sport, encompassing whole regions, people and nations. With approximately two hundred million active players in the world, it has become a national obsession in many countries making players superstars and clubs powerful brands.

These stamps issued from Pakistan marks the centenary of FIFA, (The Fédération Internationale de Football Association) which was founded on 21 May 1904 featuring the FIFA Centenary logo.

Here I would like to add one thing: Pakistan is one of the largest exporters of hand-made footballs in the World. Although Football is a hugely popular game among the people in Pakistan yet Pakistan Football Team has never brought any laurels at the international arena. Presently Pakistan is ranked 167 in FIFA Rankings.

While talking about football, I just remembered a picture I took last year. It would definitely be a pleasure to share it with you. This is my younger daughter - Maha's picture playing with a football while eating a banana in the kitchen. So even the children enjoy FOOTBALL -the best game played in the World. 

Cover #13: Pakistan: Aquarium Fishes issued on Universal Postal Union Day in 2004

Today we have a beautiful FDC with nice fishes from Pakistan to share with you. The FDC was issued on the eve of National Philatelic Exhibition Lahore 2004 which was held on Universal Postal Day in 2004. The set of Aquarium Fishes consists of 5 different types of fishes. These include the following:-

• Yellow Dwarf Cichlid
• Striped Gourami
• Tiger Barb
• Neon Tetra
• Black Widow

I absolutely adore this prized possession in my collection. Beautiful piece of philately. Isn't it?

Cover # 12: Pakistan FDC: 50 Years of Pakistan Ordnance Factories, Wah, 2001

Here is a beautiful First Day Cover (FDC) from Pakistan. The FDC was issued on 28 December 2001 on the eve of 50th Anniversary of Pakistan Ordnance Factories, Wah, Pakistan. The beautiful stamp falls into the military stamps category depicting charging infantry, moving tanks and various products of Pakistan Ordnance Factories including arms andammunition ofvarious calibres and weapons. 

 

The beautiful postmark used to cancel the FDC shows the monograms of three services of Pakistan namely Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force and Pakistan Navy. The top centre monogram is of Pakistan Army. It shows two crossed swords with an increasing crescent and a star onthe top. The bottom right monogram is of Pakistan Air Force depicting a flying falcon and a star on top; where as on the bottom left is the monogram of Pakistan Navy featuring an anchor in the middle and a crescent and a star on top.

Brief History Of Pakistan Ordnance Factories:-

During their colonial rule in India, the British raised 16 Ordnance Factories. At the time of creation of Pakistan in 1947, we were unlucky that all the sixteen factories fell to Indian share. Newly created Pakistan with fragile state apparatus and fragmented armed forces had absolutely no arms and ammunition manufacturing facility to meet the security challenges to its sovereignty. 

The first Prime Minister of Pakistan, Khan Liaqat Ali Khan immediately realized this imbalance and issued directive within four months of creation of Pakistan to establish an ordnance factory to manufacture 303 rifle and its ammunition in Rawalpindi. Subsequently, the foundation stone of four workshops was laid by the second Prime Minister of Pakistan Khawaja Nazim ud din in the small town of Wah in December 1951. This was the first step towards the establishment of mother defence industry in Pakistan.

Today by the grace of God Almighty, Pakistan has fourteen big factories at Wah which are taking care of almost 100% requirements of our armed forces. This modern defence industrial complex, which is the oldest & largest in Pakistan defence production industrial system, later helped many other sister defence production setups to flourish. Resultantly today Pakistan has a reasonably good defence production potential in which Pakistan Ordnance Factories occupy the central position.

Cover # 11: France FDC: Launch of Dial Satellite 1970

Here is a lovely FDC from France issued to commemorate the launch of Dial (Diamant Allemagne) satellite in 1970. The satellite was launched on 10th March 1970 and the stamp/FDC was issued on 28th March 1970. The Dial satellite was launched on a Diamant B launcher from Kourou into a 301 x 1631 km orbit inclined at 5.41 degrees. The German microsat was used to study the hydrogen geo-corona and the ionosphere. 

The data became difficult to intercept because of vibration damage caused during the launch. The satellite re-entered on 5th October 1978.

This beautiful FDC from France was sent to me by Jean-Michael from France.

Cover # 10: Pakistan FDC: Athens Olympics 2004

A beautiful Pakistan FDC featuring Olympics stamps issued for XXVIII Athens Olympics 2004. The FDC was issued on the eve of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad held in Athens, Greece from August 13 to August 29, 2004 with the motto "Welcome Home".  The motto depicted the fact that it was the first time since 1896 that the Olympics returned to Athens from where they initiated.

The cover featured a set of 4 stamps featuring Wrestling, Hockey, Boxing and Running. Interestingly from the above mentioned sports, Pakistan DID NOT participate in wrestling during Athens Olympics but took part in 5 sports in total including Hockey, Boxing, Running (Athletics), Shooting & Swimming. Unfortunately Pakistan did not manage to get a single medal (not even a plastic medal) during the games however Pakistan finished 5th in Hockey event (ahead of their arch-rivals India which finished 7th - ) ------ hehehe  ;)

10,625 athletes competed from 201 countries in the event. There were 301 medal events in 28 different sports. 

The 2004 Olympic Games emblem (as seen below) portrayed an olive wreath, or kotinos, a branch from an olive tree intertwined in a circle. The emblem is a reference to the ancient Olympic Games, where the kotinos was the official award of Olympic champions. In addition, the olive was the sacred tree of Athens. The colours of the emblem symbolise the shades of white and blue found in the Greek countryside.

The Athens games had two official mascots:  Athiná and Phévos (pronounced in Greek as Athina and Fivos). The sister and brother were named after Athena, the goddess of wisdom, strategy and war, while Phoebus, the god of light and music, respectively. They were inspired by the ancient daidala, which were dolls that had religious connotations as well as being toys.

United States topped the medals table with 102 medals including 36 Gold medals, China with 32 gold medals stood 2nd where as Russia managed to gain 3rd position by clinching 27 gold medals.

I have only one cover available with me which will be swapped in return of another nice FDC with Olympics theme with complete set of stamps. 

Help Needed!!! United Nations Stamps

Can someone tell me when this set of 4 stamps from United Nations was issued? Can I see them & other similar stamps on any online catalogue? What is their estimated cost? Please help!!!!

Cover # 9: Pakistan FDC: 2001: 9th SAF Games, Islamabad

Hi friends!
Here is another INTERESTING FDC from Pakistan. The FDC was issued on 9 Aril 2001 to honor the 9th SAF Games (South Asian Federation Games) scheduled to be held in Islamabad, Pakistan in 2001. The interesting part was that the Games were NOT held in 2001 due to extreme tension & escalation of armies on the border between Pakistan and India. India refused to send its contigent to Pakistan for the games. The games were postponed again and again, until they were finally organized in 2004. 

I have already shared the extremely BEAUTIFUL FDC issued in 2004 to commemorate 9th SAF games with you. If you have missed that cool post then you can read it by following this link:

SAF Games 2004 - FDC from Pakistan

You definitely can not afford to miss this one.