12th Annual Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival

This ad card promotes the annual Vegas Valley Comic Book Festival, celebrating the illustrated world that takes place on the first Saturday in November every year. In 2019, it will be held at the Clark County Library on November 2, 2019 from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m, featuring publishers, vendors, film screenings, panels and workshops, special comic and animation guests, live music and cosplay.

Layla Plays Netball

Postcard US-3971361 to Taiwan is one of the Skypixel series that features Australian drone operator Alex Coppel's daughter Layla playing netball.

Alex Coppel explained on a Facebook post: "My daughter Layla plays netball whilst patiently waiting for me to finish playing with my Phantom drone, in the last of the light on a perfect day."

There Is Always a Table Especially for You

Outgoing postcard US-3891824 to France shows the Court of Two Sisters at 613 Royal Street and 614 Bourbon in the heart of the Historic Center of old  New Orleans. The name was gained from the fact that two sisters conducted a fancy and variety store here. The present structure was erected in 1832 on the site of the residence of Sieur Etienne de Perier, the second royal governor of the French Colonial Louisiana. Currently, it serves daily jazz brunches with a buffet of Creole classics as well as à la carte dinner.

Jimmie Cooper, the owner between 1940 and 1956, used this card to offer "greetings from as romantic a place as you ever ate in - drank in - wrote home about." It reads on the back of the card: It's been here a long time, since way back, and the "Two-Sisters" have long been gone - but the famous "Court" remains more charming and beautiful than ever. One of the nicest things about the place is - "There's always a table especially for you." Jimmie guided the Court to reach the great popularity among the servicemen and women from all over the world when New Orleans was a major shipbuilding and embarkation center.

The charm gates seen on the card were wrought in Spain especially for the Court of Two Sisters.

13th Annual Montana Pro Rodeo

The 13th annual Montana Pro Rodeo Hall and Wall of Fame Scholarship Fundraiser, Banquet and Gathering will be held today on January 30, 2016 at the Holiday Inn Grand in Billings, MT. It is the largest state high school rodeo scholarship program in America.

Holiday Inn Grand, one of the largest hotels in Billings, was recently sold for 7.85 million dollars at an auction and is in the process of conversion to Radisson.

I picked up this event card at the 2015 National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

Update: the card was later sent as US-3934044 to California.

Chalet Motels

Postcard US-3429629 to Michigan was a vintage card that advertised Chalet Motels for being "Luxury and Economy Across the Nation." It boasted amenities such as air refrigeration, television, kitchens available, heated pool, and room phones

Recommended by AAA, it offered free reservation service to all other Charlet Motels. Major credit cards accepted.

The credit line stated "Litho by bob Plunkett, R. S. Los Angeles 6."

Toucan World Cup

Outgoing postcard US-3373322 to China shows a vintage color poster advertisement featuring Guinness and a football (soccer) supporting toucan with an Irish shamrock scarf, with a tag line "Lovely day for a Guinness."

As for the 2014 World Cup in the recent news, the last two of the 12 stadiums built for the purpose of hosting the Brazil World Cup have finally been completed, 10 months after the tournament ended, while at least four others have either turned into a parking lot, been used by homeless people, or become other white elephants. The waste fueled the continued controversies about the amount spent on the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, which, as many protesters claimed, should have been used to deal with the poverty issues and to improve infrastructures in the country.

Free Comic Book Day

Postcard US-3139091 to the United Kingdom an advertising card for the Alternate Reality Comics, one of several Las Vegas comic bookstores that hosted the Free Comic Book Day events earlier today.

Free Comic Book Day, first started in 2002 and taking place on the first Saturday of May, is an annual promotional effort by the North American comic book industry to help bring new readers into independent comic bookstores. In 2005, it coincided the movie release of Avengers: Age of Ultron this weekend.

At the Alternate Reality Comics, greeters were dressed in costumes and helped to direct customers to free selections where a customer could get up to 4 free comic books. The store also hosted local artists who would draw for you.

Swedish Stamps around the Arctic Circle

I found this advertising card published by Postverkets Tryckeri in 1975 at a stamp show over the weekend, featuring Swedish stamps around the Arctic Circle.

On the top left on the card, a 70 Swedish öre stamp, issued on January 18, 1973, shows a mail truck; on the top right, a 35 Swedish öre stamp, circa 1967, features a painting of the Fjeld by Sixten Lundbohm, The Swedish fjelds, explains the difference between fjelds and mountains.

In the middle row, two 45 Swedish öre stamps, showing a lappkata (teepee) on the left and a reindeer herd on the right, are two of the five stamps from the Around the Arctic Circle set, circa 1970. At the center, a 35 Swedish öre stamp features a view of the Akka Mountains in the Stora Sjöfallet (Great Falls) National Park, circa 1970.

At the bottom on the left, a 1 Swedish krona stamp, circa 1974, features a Swedish overland postman on his northernmost rural delivery route against the background of Scandinavian landscape. Next to it, a 140 Swedish öre stamp, circa 1970, shows a a sled drawn by a reindeer. On the right, a 70 Swedish öre stamp commemorates the European Nature Conservation Year in 1970. The set contains two similar stamps featuring the River Trångforsen in Ljungan, Jämtland, but with different face values. The other stamp has a face value of 55 Swedish öre.

Öre is the discontinued centesimal subdivision of the Swedish krona. 1 KR = 100 öre.

On the back of the card, a tag line reads "Collect Swedish stamp motifs. Ask your dealer for Swedish Stamps."

Search the Meaning of Silence

Postcard NL-1761372 from the Netherlands was a promotional postcard "Zoek de Stilte" for the book the Yogi's Clothes and Other Stories about Silence, an inspiring collection that contains 32 stories on the theme of silence from all over the world, collected and retold by Wim van der Zwan. The title story, of Indian origin, is about a poor yogi who meditates in silence all day. With a begging bowl and a loincloth accounting for all his possessions, his desire for a second piece of clothes leads to an untenable situation that involves a cat, a cow, a wife and a child.

Once again, Camp NaNoWriMo opens on April 1, 2015, kicking off a month-long writing event in a form of virtual camps. Coincidentally, April is also known as National Card and Letter Writing Month, an annual effort to promote literacy and celebrate the art of letter and postcard writing. To commemorate the occasion, USPS issued a colorful Forever stamps panel "From Me To You" with decorative stickers first time ever for personalizing envelopes, letters and greeting cards.

Happy St Patrick's Day

In celebrating St. Patrick Day, the annual Las Vegas Valley Firefighters St. Patrick's Day Parade and Fun Challenge was held at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center (DLVEC) today.

The parade started at the Main Street Stage at noon. Led by Grand Marshal Terry Murphy, Honorary Irish Consul to Nevada, uniformed firefighters, honor guards, bagpipers and step dancers made its way along the Fremont Street under the Viva Vision canopy. Then the Firefighter Fun Challenge took place between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. where firefighter teams from around the country competed in a tricycle race, wheel barrel race, midnight equipment run, tug of war, hose bowling and garden hose efficiency contest. winners would donate their prize money to the charities of their choices.

Outgoing postcard US-3263675 to Hong Kong shows a vintage "Horse and Cart" poster "Lovely day for a Guinness", one of the most popular of all the Guinness beer advertisements, circa 1949, by artist John Gilroy. 

Step dancers perform at the Las Vegas Valley Firefighters St. Patrick's Day Parade.

Run Away with Cirque du Soleil

My visit to the Springs Preserve in  Las Vegas today in the monthly Bank of America Museums on US weekend was cut short as they are hosting a special event Mardi Gras Vegas that features Cajun and Creole cuisine, music and culture from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The access to the Nevada State Museum was not affected. Before I left, I picked up an advertising card for a running event "Run Away with Cirque du Soleil" on March 28, 2015. Participants can run 5K or walk 1 mile with Cirque du Soleil cast members on the Springs Preserve ground at this annual event. All proceeds support the educational and environmental-sustainability programs at the Springs Preserve Foundation and Cirque du Soleil Foundation. You can register online at active.com.

Writer's Workshop

Postcard US-3223060 to Germany was an advertising card for a Writer's Workshop presented by Maxwell Alexander Drake, an award-winning Sci-Fi/Fantasy author, at the Nevada State Museum in Las Vegas on February 21, 2015 from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Maxwell is teaching free writing classes hosted by the Clark County Library District. His next classes "Character Creation – Who is that masked man anyway?" are scheduled at Centennial Hills Library on Sunday March 1, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. and Monday March 2, 2015 at 8:00 p.m.

MoreSpace

Postcard TW-1466040 from Taiwan was an advertising card for MoreSpace (摩爾空間), a personal storage company established in 2008. The Super M dog shown on the card is the guardian mascot for customers' properties.

During the 2015 Super Bowl XLIX between the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday on February 1, 2015, there will be a showdown among the big game ads as well, where a 30-second commercial spot reportedly costs $4.5 million. In the past, the ads were secrets until the game day. However, today many commercials are already being released online before the kick-off.

Budweiser's "Puppy Love", a follow-up to last year's popular theme, was among the early favorites. On the other hand, GoDaddy's controversial "Journey Home", also featuring a lost puppy and apparently a parody of the Budweiser ad, had already been pulled after protests and outrages from social media.

Breaking the Wave

In keeping up the tradition, the 2015 International CES has a large list of celebrities including Hollywood stars, popular music stars and DJs, sports legends and TV personalities to make appearances on behalf of various vendors in promoting innovative products and technologies and showcasing the new ways for consumers to work, play, connect and access information. 

Garrett McNamara, an American professional big wave surfer, was at the Body Glove Mobile booth today signing autograph. The advertising card, promoting Optrix waterproof, ultra-rugged sport cases for smart phones with optical-grade glass lenses, features Garrett breaking the world record for the largest wave ever surfed at Nazaré, Portugal on Jan 28, 2013. 

Need It, Want It, Got It

I found this GoCard I collected many years ago during a house cleaning that advertised Recycler Classifieds, a Los-Angeles-based classifieds-only newspaper, first started in 1973. Its print editions expanded into 10 regional markets including Los Angeles, San Diego, and Las Vegas by 1998.  Its digital edition Recycler.com was one of the first vast online classified advertisements communities with thousands of local ads covering cars, merchandise, employment, real estate and anything else. However, after several rounds of corporate buy outs, it missed the opportunity to compete with and stand out from other online sites such as eBay and Craigslist.

Postcard.com that produced this GoCard advertising is now a New York-based public benefit corporation with strives to achieve the highest standard for socially responsible businesses.

On a separate note, on this World AIDS Day in 2014, there is a #weareALLclean Shower Selfie Campaign that promotes HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, and eliminatse stigma for those people who are infected by the virus.

The Sounds of AHH

Postcard US-2205897 to the Netherlands was one of the several shaped cards that I bought at the "Everything Coca-Cola" specialty store in Las Vegas. Today I came cross a 2014 Coca-Cola "The Sounds of AHH" commercial by Kurt Schneider, Max Schneider, Zendaya, and Kina Grannis, singing the cover of Capital Cities' "Safe and Sound" and using the coke bottles and glasses as instruments.

I could lift you up
I could show you what you wanna see
And take you where you wanna be
You could be my luck
Even if the sky is falling down
I know that we'll be safe and sound

Lost and Found in Las Vegas

Outgoing postcard US-3038777 to China was an advertising card that promoted a benefit event for the Vegas Valley Book Festival. A program of Lost and Found schemes, scenes and stories by authors and performers was presented in the Clark County Sahara West Library at 7 p.m. Friday October 17, 2014.

The annual festival in its 13th edition, held from October 16 to October 18, 2014, was a three-day celebration of the written, spoken and illustrated word. Past keynote speakers included Dennis Lehane in 2010.

Secret Agent 23 Skidoo family band played Gotta Be Me at the Children's Main Stage on October 18, 2014, combining hip hop funk music with a message of self assurance and diversity appreciation.

Love is a Force of Nature

I got this Brokeback Mountain movie promotional card during its Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival premiere at Cinema Paradiso in 2005. The movie told a powerful story of two young men, a ranch hand and a rodeo cowboy, who sheepherded in the Wyoming mountains in the summer of 1963 and formed a life-long bond with love and conflicts.

Sixteen years ago today on October 6, 1998, Matthew Shepard, a student at the University of Wyoming, was beaten, tortured and left to die near Laramie, Wyoming. He was targeted and attacked by two men because he was gay. His death from severe head injuries six days later brought national and international attention to hate crime legislation. However, it wasn't until October 2009 that the United States Congress passed the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. President Barack Obama signed the "Matthew Shepard Act" into law on October 28, 2009.

Today on October 6, 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review those cases where state laws banning same-sex marriage were overturned by federal appeals courts, which resulted immediate recognition of same-sex marriage in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. Wyoming could see same-sex marriages recognized by the end of this year as it was covered by the same circuit appeals courts as Utah and Oklahoma. Five additional states: North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Colorado, and Kansas, are also covered.

The card was sent in to obtain a first-day-of-issue postmark on a Harvey Milk Forever Stamp on July 21, 2014, along with other first-day-of-issue postmark and digital color postmarks. It took two months for the fulfilled order to be returned on September 23, 2014.

Bitcoin for the Befunndled

Bitcoin for the Befunddled is a book published by No Starch Press, covering every thing you need to know about Bitcoin: what is is, how it works, and how to acquire, store, and spend bitcoins safely and securely. The advertising card was distributed at DefCon 22, held in Rio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas from August 7 to August 10, 2014.

DEFCON 22 "DISOBEY" Stamp

A week or so earlier, the first Bitcoin ATM "Bitcoin Bodega" by Robocoin was installed on the Las Vegas Strip at the end of July 2014, located inside the Viva Vegas souvenir shop south of Harmon Avenue and across from the Crystals at City Center.

The arrival of Bitcoin ATM indicates increasing popularity of digital currency as an alternative to cash and bank cards. It also highlights Las Vegas as an early adopter for the trending technology and emerging e-commerce.

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In downtown area, Bitcoin ATMs were installed in The D Las Vegas in May, 2014.

Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon in Dublin

Second annual Rock'N'Roll Dublin Half Marathon, doubled as Ireland’s National Half Marathon Championships, took place yesterday, attracting 7,500 runners from all over Ireland and around the world. The 21 km or 13.1 mile course started at the Docklands by the River Liffey, passing through such attractions as Christchurch, the Guinness Brewery, and Royal Hospital Kilmainham, and ended at the Phoenix Park. British Olympian Scott Overall took the men’s title in 1h 05' 19"; Sarah Mulligan won the women's title in 1h 16' 02". 

The featured postcard was distributed at the Health & Fitness Expo before the Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon & Half Marathon in 2013.