Happy Birthday to Blake Austin Griffin

Outgoing postcard US-3841691 to the United Kingdom shows the statue of mythical creature at the Mandalay Bay Hotel on October 16, 2014, wearing a Los Angeles Clipper jersey No. 32 which belongs to Blake Austin Griffin. Before playing for the Los Angeles Clippers, Blake Griffin played college basketball for the Oklahoma Sooners. Born March 16, 1989, he turns 27 today.

On Oct 30, 2014, the Clippers managed to hold off the Oklahoma City Thunder 93-90 in a season-opening game, although it couldn't build more than a 10-point lead. Blake Griffin scored 23 points, and made two free throws with five seconds left to the game.

Vulcan Statue in Birmingham, Alabama

Postcard US-3038799 from Alabama shows the Vulcan statue, the largest cast iron statue in the world, and the city symbol of Birmingham, Alabama that reflects the city's heritage in the iron and steel industry. The 56-foot or 17-meter tall statue depicts the Roman God Vulcan, god of the fire including the fire of volcanoes, also god of metalworking and the forge. It was created as Birmingham's entry for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition (1904 World's Fair) in St. Louis, Missouri. Vulcan is often depicted with a blacksmith's hammer, as in this case while his left hand held a hammer at his side. According to Wikipedia, "the statue's naked buttocks have been source of humor for many years. A novelty song, Moon Over Homewood, refers to the fact that the statue moons the neighboring suburb of Homewood, Alabama." It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on July 6, 1976.

Prometheus Statue at Rockfeller Plaza

Outgoing postcard US-3169529 to Russia was a vintage card showing Paul Manship's majestic bronze gilded statue of the Greek legend of the Titan Prometheus recumbent, bringing fire to mankind from the sun. Built in 1934, the 5.5-meter or 18-foot tall and 8-ton statue is a focal point of the fountain in the sunken gardens, which are noted for their trees and shrubs and flowers, at the front of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. The model for Prometheus was Leonardo (Leon) Nole. The inscription on the granite wall behind was a paraphrase from Aeschylus that reads: "Prometheus, teacher in every art, brought the fire that hath proved to mortals a means to mighty ends."

Built by the Rockefeller family, Rockefeller Center is a complex of 19 commercial buildings covering 22 acres or 89,000 square meters panning the area from Fifth Avenue to Sixth Avenue and between 48th and 51st streets in the center of Midtown Manhattan, New York City, New York. It was recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1987.

Mount Nemrut, Adıyaman, Turkey

Postcard TR-197954 from Turkey shows Mount Nemrut near Adıyaman in southeastern Turkey, a presumed royal tomb site built by King Antiochus I Theos of Commagene in 62 B.C. At its 2,134 m or 7,001 ft summit, there are a number of large statues with their heads separated and scattered throughout the site. Mount Nemrut was recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.

Košice, Slovakia

Postcard SK-41685 was my first received card from Slovakia, showing Košice, the biggest city in eastern Slovakia.

Slovakia was first occupied between the 5th and 6th centuries. The first Slavic state was created as Samo's Empire around the 7th century. After the 10th century, the Kingdom of Hungary covered the territory of today's Slovakia, and later became part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The present-day Slovakia and Czech were resulted from the peaceful dissolution of the mutual state Czechoslovakia on January 1, 1993.

Košice is the second largest city in Slovakia with a population of 240,000, next to the capital city Bratislava. It was the European Capital of Culture in 2013, along with Marseille, France. The city has a well-preserved historical center with many heritage protected buildings in Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque, and Art Nouveau styles. The St. Elisabeth Cathedral, as seen in the middle of the card, is Slovakia's largest church.

Michelangelo's David

Achilles was killed out of his heel. Now, David is at risk of collapsing due to his weak ankles. According to a recent report published in the Journal of Cultural Heritage from the National Research Council in Italy, micro-fractures have been found in the ankle and leg areas at Michelangelo's famous statue.

The "David" statue dates from the early 16th century. Initially for more than three centuries, "David" stood outside at the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, exposing to the elements. It was moved inside to the Galleria dell'Accademia in 1873, with a copy placed in the piazza. Research shows that its left leg and the tree stump, where much of its 5.5-ton weight rests, has been weaken over the years due to vibrations caused by the tourists and passing automobile traffic. The quality of the marble used by Michelangelo was also a contributing factor.

Recommendations have been made to minimize the risk by retrofitting an earthquake-proof room or moving the statue to a more stable area outside the city.

For people in Las Vegas, there is not worry as we have an exact replica of Michelangelo's David as shown on postcard US-1655839 to Germany. It is located at the Appian Way Shops inside Caesars Palace Casino in Las Vegas, made from Carrara marble. He stands 5.17-meter or 17-feet tall and weighs more than nine tons.

Groeten van Terschelling

Postcard NL-2209353 arrived yesterday with greetings from Terschelling Island in the Northern Netherlands. Terschelling is one of the West Frisian Islands, home to about 8300 permanent inhabitants. However, the number of people can triple in tourist season.

On the left it shows square-shaped Brandaris, known as "the Tower" by local, the oldest functional lighthouse in the Netherlands. The lighthouse was built in late 16th century. Unfortunately, the interior is not open to the public.

The middle panel shows a 1982 Statue of "Het Stryper Wyfke", an old lady who deceived English troops and saved the island from burning down during Holmes's Bonfire in 1666. She made English troops believe that the silhouettes they saw in the distant where soldiers, while in fact those were of graveyards. 

A section of beaches can be seen on the right, with "Noordzee" (North Sea, the open ocean outside the island) written in the foreground. Terschelling is separated from the mainland by the Wadden Sea and can be reached by ferry from the mainland Frisian town Harlingen in 2 hours and from Vlieland by high-speed catamaran in 45 minutes.

Vanished Sculptures Outside the Monte Carlo

Expired Postcard US-1945392 to Belarus has reached its 365-day mark and is heading to the postcard graveyard. The postcard shows a sculpture outside the Monte Carlo Resort and Casino with a photo taken on October 12, 2012.

Those frolicking sculptures at the north Monte Carlo entrance were dismantled along with the European facade and famed fountain in June 2013 to make way for a large open-air plaza between the Monte Carlo and New York New York. It is part of the current trend that opens up casinos and converts external facades into profit-making entertainment venues with live entertainment, restaurants and retail stores, similar to what are happening in the MGM Grand and the Treasure Island,

Tula Slavery Freedom Statue

Postcard US-2375984 to Ukraine shows the Tula Slavery Freedom Statue at the Port of Willemstad in Curaçao, an island country in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast.

Tula was a slave and a leader of a slave revolt in 1795 that lasted over a month. Executed on October 3, 1795, he is considered a fighter for human rights and independence in Curaçao today.

Learn more about the Tula Slavery Freedom Statue from a blog of the Port of Willemstad, Curaçao.

California Volunteers Monument

California Volunteers Monument

My traveling postcard US-2293204 to Russia shows California Volunteers, Spanish-American War Memorial, located at the intersection of Dolores Street and Market Street in San Francisco, CA, USA.

Created by Douglas Tilden in 1903, the monument features Bellona, the Roman goddess of war, riding a Pegasus. It is dedicated to the Californians who fought the Spanish-American War in the Philippines.

The coordinates of the monuments are: 37°46'7"N 122°25'36"W. The photo was taken on June 23, 2012. You can purchase a copy of the postcard at Zazzle.com or see what's around the monument at Traveling Luck.