Van Gogh’s Images of Death

A friend was in Amsterdam last month and brought me back two postcards from the Van Gogh Museum.

The first one was one of my favourites from when I visited the museum:

The painting is “Wheatfield with Crows” – reputedly one of his last paintings before his suicide.  The crows and dark sky do seem to suggest impending doom.

The other postcard I have never seen the Van Gogh work depicted before (I’d remember it):

It is called Head of Skeleton with a Burning Cigarette. It seems that Van Gogh is suggesting that smoking doesn’t kill you after all!

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Postcrossing Postcards

This is my 3ooth post for this blog!

I’m not anywhere close to running out of postcards to blog about as I have many years of my own collecting plus a couple collections I inherited. But as a postcard collector, my favourite way to get new additions to the Collection is having them personally mailed to me. Buying postcards is cheating for me. But over the years, people are sending less postcards than they used to (or I have less people who can stand me enough to mail me!)

A friend referred me to a free website to get more postcards in the mail:Postcrossing.com.

Here’s how it works:

1. Sign up and create a profile, indicate types of postcards you like
2. Request to send a postcard – the system assigns you a name from its database
3. You get a link to their profile to see their preferences and address
4. Mail the postcard
5. When the recipient receives it, they log it into the system
6. Your name now goes into the pool for you to receive one

I sent and received several postcards. I love them all but here’s my favourite:

I indicated that I liked “bizarre” postcards and this sender certainly fulfilled my request with spades! I can’t even figure this one out.

Postcard message:
“Hi Glen! Here is Postcrossing card for you. 🙂 It’s the weirdest one I could find. LOL! Hope you like it!

I love how the Internet has enabled this (and the site founder too). Prior to the Net, things like this just would not have been possible. Check it out and you’ll love it – the Finns sure do, as you’ll soon discover.

Reflecting on Netherlands

Today is a momentous day for Netherlands. With Queen Beatrix retiring today, they have a new monarch King Willem-Alexander. It’s their first king in 120 years (see news coverage).

It’s also Queen’s Day today. So in honour of the Netherlands, here’s one of my favourite specimens from my Dutch collection:

I’m not sure why this Dutch woman is biting her finger. Perhaps she’s looking forward to popping a herring? Or perhaps she’s really puzzled at the two disparate images she’s seeing. Or maybe she’s just practising for the night shift in her window box.

This postcard just seems to capture the unique character of the country that I find so enjoyable.

I sent this postcard during my trip there in 2001. Here’s a brief account of my adventures:

Postcard message:
“Hi. Isn’t this a cheesy postcard? There’s so much cheese here and I don’t mean Edam and Gouda! (Bad pun). We love Amsterdam. The museums are great by day and by night there’s no lack of entertainment. [Censored for adult content]”

Of all the places I’ve been to in the world, Netherlands is among the most unique. Perhaps it’s the combination of their incredible history combined with their liberalism that results in an eclectic combination of high and low culture. Either way, I think it is great that there are places like this in the world!