Postcards Received Friday, May 13, 2016

321.  Victory Day in Russia

Hello Chris!  Greetings from Russia.  Happy Victory Day!  (Victory Day is the national Russian holiday on 9th May)  I wish you all the best and hope you like this card.  Have a nice day and enjoy every moment!  Nastya

322.  Belgian - French Border

Hello, this is old card of the frontier between FRANCE (Halleun) and BELGIUM (Menen).  I live in Belgium but post this card in France (cheaper).  I have to pass this place.  You could recognize it a little bit.  Lucovic Dedeuk

323.  Princeton, NJ

Hello Chris, my name is Gabriela.,  I live in a little town near Princeton, NJ, but only one hour away from New York City.  I love the countryside and once a year I visit the Big Apple.  The best of Two worlds.  New Jersey is a beautiful state, especially in spring and fall.  Best Wishes!

324.  Chamois in Germany

08.05.16

Hi boys and girls,  In the sout of Germany in the gib mountains there are many of these typical animals called chamois.  Do you have them in the United States, too?  Wishing you all the best, Martina

325.  Erlangen, Germany's Public Library

 4.5.2016

Hello.  My name is Claudia and I live in Erlangen with 105,000 inhabitants and 39,000 students. In front you see part of out "new town" built in the 17th century in baroque style.  The building is today our public library.  The first owner of the building never lived there, later it was used as a bank, police station....  Greetings, Claudia

326.  Odessa, Texas

Hello!  My name is Anita and I live in Odessa, Texas.  Our main industry here is oil.  We have a large rodeo in January and even larger hight school football games in the fall.  Our city mascot is the jackrabbit.  We have several statues around town.  Anita

Summertime's Finally Here!

Ah, another LTC, this time it came as a QUISP, underneath the address label of one of my postal ring exchanges!

Picnics & Parties!! :-D: Un-invited Guests

Porras Posse - CastleRock, CO

MOVIE - Deadpool

R (1:43)

Wide release Feb. 12, 2016

Viewed around 5/10/16 
IMBd: 8.1/10

RT Critic:  84  Audience: 90
Critic's Consensus:  

Cag:  4/Liked it a lot

Directed by Tim Miller

20th Century Fox

Ryan Reynolds, Morena Baccarin

My comments:  Though NOT for kids, this was an entertaining, crass, funny, violent movie, full of sexual jokes and innuendos.  I thoroughly enjoyed it and loved the "R" level  stuff.  However, if some of those jokes were changed to just-as-funny PG-13 rated, a whole lot of kids would get a chance to see it.  (Probably wouldn't be as good, though, to tell the truth).

RT/ IMDb Summary: Based upon Marvel Comics' most unconventional anti-hero, DEADPOOL tells the origin story of former Special Forces operative turned mercenary Wade Wilson, who after being subjected to a rogue experiment that leaves him with accelerated healing powers, adopts the alter ego Deadpool. Armed with his new abilities and a dark, twisted sense of humor, Deadpool hunts down the man who nearly destroyed his life. 

The Art of Letterboxing Trading Cards (LTCs)

There's a letterboxer in Indiana that's planted boxes all over the country, is part of postals, and shares hitchikers.  She's an outstanding carver (as you can see below).  As a thank you for returning a full logbook to her, she sent me the most wonderful package of LTCs and goodies.  What a wonderful surprise gift!  Even the mailer she created was really cool!  Wait 'til you see her work:

Laurel Burch Art:  Zig Zag Cats 

LTC 4 of 16

Jabber - March 2016

The Art of Communication - 2016 Year of the Monkey

aMAZEing adventure frog - February 2016

The Art of Scherenschnitte: Cut Paper KITTEN

LTC 6 of 26

Jabber - September 2014

Crazy About Cats! What's in This Box?

LTC 23 of 30

Jabber - December 2014

Postcards Received Monday, May 9, 2016

A big handful of cool cards today!

My favorite one first:

318.  Nighttime Reading

Greetings from Poland

04.05.2016

319.  Gdansk, Poland

Hi!  Warm greetings from Poznan, one of the largest cities in Poland.  I'm a legal trainee and I want to become an attorney in the future.  I love almost every kind of active spending time e/q/ hiking, cycling, skiing, or canoeing.  I hope that you'll like this postcard pictureing Gdansk, the city in northern Poland.  Wish you all the best!  Bartosz

(this was sent in an envelope)

316.  Russian handcraft

Vladimir-city, Russia +4 degrees C.

22.04.16

Hello Chris!  My name is Sofiya, I'm 24 y.o.  I'm from Russia.  I hope you like this card :).  On this postcard shows Dymkovo toy and Russian scarf with the national pattern.  Best wishes for you!  Good luck and Happy Postcrossing!

317.  Metro Manila, Philippines

April 24, 2016

Chris Hello!  Greetings from the Philippines!  This postcard is about our capital city.  Metro Manila is so congested right now.  I hope our next president will do something about it.  Anyways, have a great day!  Zarah

320.  Santiago de Chile

Hello, My name is Camila, I'm 26 y/o and I'm finishing my studies in business adm in university.  I live in Santiago, the capital of Chile, this postcard shows a view of one of the prettiest and more modern part of the city, you could say is the uptown part.  Yesterday it rained a lot and all that highway was full of water, we had emergency alert the whole day but now it's everything ok.  Hope everything is good with you.  Best wishes from Chile, Camila.

315.  Landsberg am Lech, Germany

2016 - 04 - 14

15 degrees C, sunshine

Hello, Best regards from Landsberg near Munich in Bavaria.  Linja

314.  Emilia Romagna, Italy

Hello Chris, I'm Paola, 40 years and I live in Piacenza, a city of 100,000 inhabitants.  This card shows you a map of my region and views of every main city.  You can see also San Marino.  Hugs, Paola

Short Story - Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been by Joyce Carol Oates

This is the painting that the Celestial Timepiece
website used to illustrate the story.

First of all, you can read the entire story on Celestial Timepiece.

Definitely a creepy story.  A story to reread.  A story where you see, judge, deduce something a bit different every time you read it.

Somewhat average 15 year old girl, Connie, totally into herself.  At this time in her life, her mother and sister are stupid and know nothing.  Boy crazy.  Loves fixing herself up and feeling good about her appearance.  A little sneaky, but not too much.

The main part of the story - the part that gets creepy, is the second half.  A summer Sunday.  Connie has stayed home by herself, washed her hair, and is just hanging out in the yard and in the house when a yellow jalopy with two young men drive up her driveway.  They're there looking for her.....

This is what Goodreads has to say about this story (Goodreads is always my "go to"):
 Joyce Carol Oates’s prize-winning story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” takes up troubling subjects that continue to occupy her in her fiction: the romantic longings and limited options of adolescent women; the tensions between mothers and daughters; the sexual victimization of women; and the American obsession with violence.  Inspired by a magazine story about a serial killer, its remarkable portrait of the dreamy teenager Connie has made it a feminist classic.  Connie’s life anticipates the emergence of American society from the social innocence of the fifties into the harsher contemporary realities of war, random violence, and crime.  The story was the basis for the movie Smooth Talk, which became the subject of much feminist debate. 

Note:  some of the reviews on Goodreads are FAR more insightful than some of the published essays I've read!

Postcards Received Friday, 5/6/16

311.  Melbourne, Australia

25/04/2016

Greetings from Australia!  I live in Melbourne - the country's capital of sports and culture.  I work as a software engineer and love tos pend my free time outdoors.  Have a good day!  Cheers, Nadya

312. Grand Place - Tournai, Belgium

28/04/2106

Bonjour
Chris,  Voici une carte de la ville ou  je vis, Tournai en Belgique.  Tournai est une des plus vielles villes de Belgique.  Le Beffroi est le plus ancien de Belgique Tournai est surnomnee la ville aux 5 clochers.

Hello Chris, Here is a postcard of the city where I live, Tournai in Belgium.  Tournai is one of the oldest cities of Belgium.  Le Belary is the oldest in Belgium.  Tournai is nicknamed the city of five towers.

Renaldo

Thank you Mr. Postman!

313.  (Sri Lanka - Catholioc Church Negombo) 

Hong Kong

(Can't quite figure out the connections - yet - )

18 April 2016

Dear Classy,  Warm greetings from Hong Kong!  We're having a very humid and foggy spring, anyways it is not stopping me on doing water sports.  Hope you're enjoy spring too!

"Not all those who wander are lost." - J.R.R. Tolkien

"No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted." - Aesop

"We carry within us the wonders we seek around us." - Sir Thomas Browne

Cheers, Angela

MOVIE - Dough

NR  (1:34)

Limited Release 4/28/16

Viewed 5/5/16 at The Loft

RT Critic:  60  Audience:  60

Cag:  4/Liked it a lot

Directed by John Goldschmidt

Docier Entertainment

Jonathan Pryce

My comments:  Unfortunately, this is one of the movies I saw in the spring that I didn't review right away, so forgot my initial reaction other than I liked it a lot, but not hugely.....

RT Summary:  Curmudgeonly widower Nat Dayan (Tony award-winning actor Jonathan Pryce, currently in HBO's "Game of Thrones") clings to his way of life as a Kosher bakery shop owner in London's East End. Understaffed, Nat reluctantly enlists the help of teenager Ayyash (Jerome Holder), who has a secret side gig selling marijuana to help his immigrant mother make ends meet. When Ayyash accidentally drops his stash into the mixing dough, the challah starts flying off the shelves and an unlikely friendship forms between the old Jewish baker and his young Muslim apprentice. DOUGH is a warmhearted and humorous story about overcoming prejudice and finding redemption in unexpected places.

Postcard Received 5/5/16

310.  Samara RUSSIA

(This card was supposed to be sent on 10/31/15, but was not written and sent until 4/10 - so although it appeared to take 189 days to get here, it actually took 25.)

10/4/2016

Hello Chris!  This greetings from Samara big city on Volga.  On the picture is one of our main street with art gallery.  It is a very old  building.  Actually, our city is very sunny, but sometimes foggy.  Have a nice. day.  Anne

Postcards Received 5/3/2016

303.  Lighthouse Kota Kuala Kedah - Kedah, Malaysia

Hello, A warmest greetings from Malaysia.  How are you?  I hope you'll be happy with this lighthouse postcard from me.  Wish you all the beat & take care, Honeysh

304.  Suomi Finland

I'm 52 yo woman living with my 17 y daughter and 2 cats here in Scandinavia, in Finland.  We have thousands of lakes and forests, nature is beautiful.  Sometimes we see Aurora Borealis in the sky, especially in winter.  We have four seasons.  I listen to music and a famous band Nightwish is from F"inland.  Best Wishes, Ippe & Melissa

305.  Old Market, Leuwen, Belgium

3/22/2016  

Hi.  Here you see the old market, a famous square in Leuwen, the city where I live.  It is full of pubs and bars and was very much destroyed during WWII.  But you see, we rebuild it.  Also what happened today in Belgium, we will rebuild.  Greetings, Wendy

306.  The Western Wall, Jerusalem, Israel

You probably got my email.  I told you that I would talk about the shuk, so I will.  My cousins and I went to the Mahane Yuhuda.  My brother and I bought lots of candy, some bread and nuts.  It was awesome.  - S. F.

307.  Washington D. C. - National Mall

April 29, 2016 

Hello Chris,  I suppose this qualifies as a map of my area.  You could actually use it to tour the best places on the National Mall - Tim Wolfe

308.  Smolensk, Russia 

City walls and moat with water

Thubem!  Hello!  Warm greetings from Smolensk!  Smolensk is one of the oldest cities in Russia.  863 year - the first mention of Smolensk in chronicle... All the bert!  Olga

309.  Paradise Island, Bahamas

Paradise island contains some of the world's finest resorts and casinos, all surrounded by beautiful white-sand beaches and crystal clear tropical waters!

Postcard collecting is my hobby

I shall not be bored.

It maketh me do research on faraway places.

It causeth me to correspond with strange people.

It keepeth me alert.

It leadeth me into the new areas of knowledge

for curiosity's sake.

Yea, though I am house bound by miserable weather,

I will fear no boredom, for my cards are with me.

Their beauty and their history enchant me.

they show me a pleasant escape

from the tensions of everyday life.

They fill my shelves with shoe boxes,

My checking account runneth lower.

Surely, their beauty and information shall surround me

all the days of my life,

and I will be listed in the ranks of deltiologists forever.

MOVIE - Hologram for the King

R (1:30)

Limited release 4/22/16

Viewed date at El Con Monday, 5/2/16 - no one was at the movies, any of them!

RT Critic: 65   Audience:  87
Critic's Consensus:  A Hologram for the King amiably ambles through a narrative desert, saved by an oasis of a performance from the ever-dependable Tom Hanks.

Cag:  5/ Loved it
Directed by Tom Tykwer

Roadside Attractions
From the Novel by Dave Eggers

Tom Hanks

My comments:  This hasn't gotten the best of ratings, and practically no one's heard of it, so I wasn't expecting much.  But I really enjoyed this movie, other than for a few minor details.  The setting, Saudi Arabia (with its people, religion, culture etal) was fascinating...if it was depicted correctly.  The story was intriguing.  The protagonist Alan Clay, played by Tom Hanks, was a great study - his depression, anxiety, and observations about the world around him.  I particularly enjoyed his friendship with the "local guy."  And then there was the "situation" with the strange lump on his back....  So what did I not like?  All of a sudden it was the end of the story.  So much of the beginning took its time telling the story, and then - poof - it was over and done.  Voila!  Too quickly, I think....

Roger Ebert.com review here. (3 stars)

RT Summary:  Cultures collide when an American businessman (Tom Hanks) is sent to Saudi Arabia to close what he hopes will be the deal of a lifetime. Baffled by local customs and stymied by an opaque bureaucracy, he eventually finds his footing with the help of a wise-cracking taxi driver (Alexander Black) and a beautiful Saudi doctor (Sarita Choudhury).

Postcards Received 5/2/16

300.  Fort Worth Stockyards, TEXAS

4-27-16

      Howdy from Ft. Worth, Texas.  My name is Linda or my grandchildren call me Nanny.  I am 66 yrs. young.  I love to travel, read, sew, and spend time with my 13 grandchildren (10 girls and 3 boys).  I am homeschooling 4 of the grand children.  We use postcrossing to learn like your class.

     Fort. Worth at one time was the largest stockyard in the southwest United States.  The are is now a historical area.  The old exchange building is a museum. I hope you like the card.  Happy Postcrossing, Linda

301.  Hirokoji Street Vicinity of Sakaecho Crossing, Nagoya City, Japan
24 April 2016
Hello, Chris!
I'm Maasa in Nagoya city, Japan.  Nagoya is located in the middle of Japan.  There is a venue for the 2005 World Expo, Aichi.  There is now has become a large park.  Have a nice postcrossing.  Maasa

302.  Arbat Street. Pedenstrian Zone.  Moscow.
Hello, Dear Chris!  My name is Catherine, I live in Moscow.  I am an artist and geologist.  On Arbat Strteet I spend every Sunday in art studio.  War greetings from cold Moscow!!!

MOVIE - The Hateful Eight

R (2:47)

Wide release 12/30/2015

Viewed May 1, 2016 at Kolb cheapie

RT Critic: 75   Audience:  77
Critic's Consensus:  The Hateful Eight offers another well-aimed round from Quentin Tarantino's signature blend of action, humor, and over-the-top violence -- all while demonstrating an even stronger grip on his filmmaking craft.

Cag:  4 - I liked it a lot more than I should have...

Directed by Quentin Tarantino

The Weinstein Company

Kurt Russell, Samuel L. Jackson, Walton Goggins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tim Roth, Bruce Dern, Channinng Tatum

RogerEbert.com review here.  2 stars

My comments:  Well, I'd heard this was excessively bloody and violent, so although I had been intrigued when I first heard of it, I decided not to go.  However, wanting to see a movie today and there being not many that I hadn't seen, I chose to go to this. It's been out for awhile and this'll probably be the last I could see it on "the big screen" Ha!  I'm so glad I did!  Yes, bloody and violent...but really funny.  Hey, it's a Quentin Taratino film, that should have tipped me off right away.  I am a peace lover.  Through and through.  But I really enjoyed this movie.  I looked at all the blood and guts as great makeup jobs and all the violence as ridiculous and  stupid and added almost as "gags."  So, with all the jokes and funny places, I didn't flinch once!  And it was a funny movie.  A little slow in places, I've got to admit.  And Jennifer Jason Leigh, who is definitely NOT one of my favorite actresses, was GREAT!

RT Summary: Wyoming in the 1870s. A stagecoach is heading towards the town of Red Rock with two passengers onboard. One is John "Hangman" Ruth (played by Kurt Russell), a celebrated bounty hunter. The other is Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), his prisoner and wanted for murder. Along the way they pick up another bounty hunter, Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L Jackson), and Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins). Due to a blizzard they are forced to hole up in a store some way out of town with the occupants of another stagecoach. Suspicions commence and Civil War enmities are reawakened.

Postcards Received from Idaho

341.  IDAHO...did you know?

5/18/16 

Hi Chirs, While this is not the "flashiest" of cards, it is a "did you know."  Hop you don't have it.  I had hip surgery last week and will have all summer off - like a teacher!  The pain is no fun, thous.  Lisa

451.  Frida Kahlo Girl with Death - Pocatello, ID
July 13, 2016
Hello Chris!
If you were here in Idaho this morning, we could drink coffee (or Diet Coke!) and talk about Postcrossing.  Later, we could climb the hill behind my house and look out over the Portneuf Valley.  All the wildflowers are in bloom, and it's beautiful.  I am also a retired teacher (almost 9 years now), and I still miss the prep!  Who would have guessed?
Happy travels  -- Cheryl

570.  Riding High in Idaho
Hello!  This was as close as I had of a jackalope.  Been going back & forth for soccer games today.  Two of my kids play.  Hope you like PA!  It's beautiful in the fall!  Bonnie

Postcards Received from Washington State

2084.  "Books are a uniquely portable magic." ~ Stephen King

Washington

Hi Chris!  I am a teacher too.  Only 8 years in and I teach high school English in WA state.  So excited for summer break I am headed on a 6-week road trip from west coast to east coast and back again!  Cheers, Rachel

1245.  Seattle, Washington

Hi Chris!  Happy first day of spring from Seattle.  I have always lived here, surrounded by mountains, forest, water and urban life.  I work as a project manager at a cancer research center and absolutely love my job.  How wonderful that you work at your local library!  I always have a few books checked out from the library.  I recently finished Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly and will start Uncommon Type by Tom Hanks.  

Love and peace from Seattle, Lisa

297.  Poetry Postcard Project - Vancouver, WA

516.  Spokane, Washington
Postal greetings from my home in spokane, WA.  Did this make you laugh?  Smile a little?  I love to hike/bike and walk.  We have wild fires right now so the smokey conditions mean I stay inside.  Congrats on your retirement.  Colleen

529.  Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument, Washington
Hello from Kalama, WA., which is near this mountain which I did see explode; which is now an amazing and beautiful place to visit if you get the opportunity.  Happy Postcrossing, Summer

432.  Tumwater, Washington

This was a AtlasQuest Stamp Swap.  

Her stamp: