Stamp collecting

Yesterday I received my collector's badge for Scouts. That means that this year I have worked for 5 activity badges. My newest badge is added to my builder's badge, my team sport badge, my music badge and my modeler's badge.

To get my collector's badge I had to find out and present some information. Here it is:

* A stamp collector is called a philatelist.

* Stamp collecting is one of the most popular hobbies in the world with close to 20 million stamp collectors in the USA alone.

* The first postage stamp, the Penny Black, was issued by Britain in 1840 and pictured a young Queen Victoria. When the Penny Black first came out it cost one cent. Now the price will vary from $20 to $200 depending on the condition.

* People started to collect stamps almost straight away. One person, John Edward Grey, bought Penny Black stamps on the first day of sale in order to collect them.

* A stamp collector needs some basic equipment, such as a stock book to hold stamps and other equipment, stamp hinges to hinge/mount stamps, a magnifying glass to study the condition and details of the stamps, and stamp tongues (tweezers) to prevent damage to the stamps when you are touching them.

* Famous stamp collectors include Freddy Mercury, lead singer of the band, Queen. He started collecting stamps as a child and right up to adulthood. John Lennon of the Beatles was also a stamp collector in his childhood. England's King George V reportedly had one of the largest stamp collections in the world.

Some of my favourite stamps I have in my collection are from Africa. The ones from Kenya have seashells on them and they are very colourful. I have 4 stamps from Tanzania, three of which have pictures of different fish on them. I also have stamps from Chad, Mali, Congo, Niger, Republique du Dahomey, Republique de Haute-Volta, South Africa and Uganda. I got these stamps from Great Nana who got them from letters that came from Great Aunt Val.

But my all-time favourite stamp from my collection is a 42 cent Canadian stamp. It is holographic and it shows a picture of Canada in space.

The Story of Charles Lindbergh

Yesterday was Charles Lindbergh's birthday. I did not know who he was before today. But now I think he's a pretty cool guy. Let me tell you why.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh (CL) was born on February 4, 1902 in Detroit, and died of cancer on August 26, 1974, in Hawaii.

CL got bored with engineering and left school to be a barnstormer (a pilot who does tricks in planes at fairs). In 1925, he was the best pilot in his graduating class from military school and got hired to deliver mail from St. Louis to Chicago.

In 1927, he rounded up some business men to pay for a plane that he designed to cross the Atlantic. It was called the "Spirit of St. Louis." Before he left to cross the Atlantic, he did a test flight. He flew from San Diego to New York in a record time of 20 hours and 21 minutes.

On May 20, 1927, he and the Spirit of St. Louis took off to make history from New York to Paris. CL arrived in Paris after 33 1/2 hours, making him the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic. This earned him $25,000 (The Orteig Prize), the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Distinguished Flying Cross.

Other cool things CL did:

* He designed an artificial heart

* Even though he was a civilian, he flew 50 combat missions in the Pacific in WWII. Also, he developed new cruise control techniques to increase the abilities of fighter planes.

* He helped design the Boeing 747 jet

* CL was an author and wrote 2 books: We (1927) and The Spirit of St. Louis (1953), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize book award in 1954.

* In the 1960s, he fought for the protection of humpback and blue whales.

My final thought is this: CL was a pretty cool guy and pretty famous, too. I can't believe he crossed the Atlantic Ocean all by himself and that he wrote a book that won the Pulitzer!

Happy Belated Birthday, Charles Lindbergh!

Happy Birthday Norman Rockwell!

Did you know that today is Norman Rockwell's birthday? Here are some facts about this artist:

* Norman Rockwell (or "Monney)" was born February 3, 1894 in Manhattan, New York. He died November 8, 1978 in Stockbridge, Massachusetts.

*He was married 3 times and had 3 children.

*Norman dropped out of highschool to go to the National Academy of Design; but later transferred to The Art Students League.

*At the age of 17, he illustrated a series of children's books called Tell Me Why Stories.

*At the age of 22, he sold his first cover for the Saturday Evening Post. He did 321 covers for the Post. The covers that he drew or painted were of everyday people doing everyday things.

*Later on, he moved to Look magazine and painted pictures that showed civil rights and other tough subjects.

* Norman is most remembered for his work at The Saturday Evening Post, but he would have like to have been remembered for the serious work he did on Look.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to a very popular American artist!

Book Review

I chose a really cool book for my January novel study. I got to choose two activities to go along with the book. I did a comic book and a commercial (see the bottom of my blog for my commercial). I also had to do a short book summary. Here it is...

Boba Fett - The Fight to Survive
by Terry Bisson

The story opens on the stormy planet Kameno, where Boba and his father live. Boba is an adventurous kid who has never seen a school room because his dad is the most feared bounty-hunter in the galaxy. But soon, everything changes when Obe-wan comes for the clone army.

After a fight with Obi-wan, Boba and his father take off in their ship, Slave 1. They come to a massive red planet, Geonosis after a long hyper-space flight. It happens to be the largest droid producer in the galaxy.

There wasn't a lot to do on Geonosis, except to bug the Geonosian guards (who were droids themselves). Boba didn't know there was more to do until he went to the arena. As the games in the arena were going on, a Jedi named Master Windu attacked the fighters with a Jedi army and a clone army. Master Windu came to save Obi-wan from punishment.

In the fray, something happened that would change Boba's life forever - his father's death. Boba must learn to adapt and try to survive the next few months on his own. Read the book to find out if he does.

I really enjoyed this book because it made you feel like you were right there in the action. I suggest this book for people who like adventure and action. For anyone who loves Star Wars, like myself, this is the book to get.

Robbie Burns Day

Yesterday, January 25th, we went to a Robbie Burns Celebration - or at least, part of one. I had never even really heard of Robbie Burns before yesterday and I wanted to know more about him. So today, mommy and I did a bit of research him. This is what I found out:

Robert Burns was born January 25, 1759 and died July 21, 1796. He was 37 years old.

• He was a Scottish poet and is known in Scotland as The Bard.


• Burns is said to be the National Poet of Scotland.


• He wrote many peoms and songs, including the one we sing at New Year's called, Auld Lang Syne.


• Daddy's favourite "Rabbie" Burns poem is A Red, Red Rose. It was written in 1794, 2 years before he died.

So what do people do to celebrate Robbie Burns Day?

Well, we went to Acadia Hall because Abby was going to dance with some of her highland class, for the people at the party. When we arrived, there were musicians playing some old folk songs. They were playing the fiddle, the guitar, and the accordian. I knew some of the songs because I have played them before on my fiddle. My favourite song that I recognized was John Ryan's Polka. When the musicians were finished, a man who was very Scottish (he had a thick accent), said a poem about Robbie Burns and then another by Robbie Burns.

Then it was time for Abby to dance. Her first dance was the Sword Dance. She was the smallest dancer, but she kept up with the older dancers. She then had to wait for a bit while the older dancers danced a bunch of different dances. Abby was excited because she got to change from her kilt into her beautiful, white Lilt dress. She then had to dance the Lilt, the Flora and they all ended with the Fling. We didn't stay around for the feast. It is traditional for people to eat Haggis for supper on Robbie Burn's Day. I didn't really want to try it out. I know that it is made in the stomach of a sheep, and well, that isn't my thing.

Here is a video of Abby's Sword Dance: