Cool Map Generator
Hello,
It has dawned on me that I have ignored this site since the announcement of last year’s Postcard of the Year, ‘Greetings from Afghanistan.’ For this I apologize. It has been a busy beginning to the year, and yet you — my faithful postcard providers — have kept up your torrential pace. Postcards abound here in Washington, and these new additions will be added as soon as I can make it over to the college I used to attend and use the scanner I used to have permission to use.
In the meantime, a big shout-out to Will Hornby, who gets on the board with a contribution from Denmark, and another big shout-out to Elis of Estonia, making her first contribution, and yet another big shout-out to Sarka of Prague/Manchester, who has gained entry into the wonderful world of Postcard Wars as well. Thank you! Your efforts will be recorded soon.
And now to the point of this post: Check out this awesome Map Generator. Simply check the countries you visited, and the Map Generator will show you an image of how much of the world you’ve been to. It’s pretty cool — and humbling, for those who think they’ve traveled a bit like me. (My reaction: ‘Wait. What’s that down there? Oh, it’s the southern hemisphere.’)
Keep on keepin’ on.
Your Postcard of the Year
Here it is, the winning entry!
Well done! You have earned your victory prize! Thank you all for participating!
POSTCARD OF THE YEAR!
Ladies and gentlemen,
The time has come. Let the voting begin!
You have proven yourselves senders of amazing postcards, discoverers of great treasures and deliverers of golden greetings. Thanks for a great season. Now it’s time to pick a winner.
Be sure to examine this site’s full list of each and every postcard received. Choose carefully, and use any criteria that you deem fitting. For example, is the postcard amusing? Is the postcard from a place that’s difficult to reach, or difficult to stay alive in when reached? Does the postcard feature naked people?
When you have decided on a winner, reply to this post below — where it says ‘Comments’ — and leave your name and your choice for Postcard of the Year. Please only vote once. This isn’t Florida in the year 2000.
The winner will receive a sweet prize. And if your postcard does not win Postcard of the Year, don’t despair. Voting is still to come in a host of subcategories such as Most Dangerous Postcard to Obtain, Most Disturbing Postcard, etc.
Voting for Postcard of the Year will close promptly on Christmas morning — just about two weeks from now.
Ready, go!
Latest Entries — ‘Entrees Recentement’
Excusez-moi, s’il vous plait. Pardon me. I have been less than diligent in uploading postcards to The Wars, though The Wars continues to receive them — and what great postcards too!
Below you will find the latest entries to reach Postcard Wars, and they are among the last of the year. Last, however, certainly does not mean least, and some of the treasures we admire here today really are among the best of the best. Enjoy, and thank you!
TUNISIA! THE FIRST AFRICAN COUNTRY TO APPEAR ON THESE PAGES!
Thanks very much for this. I have been waiting for Africa for a long, long time.
A PAIR OF GREETINGS FROM ALBANIA — ONE TERRIFYING, ONE HILARIOUS
Nothing quite beats this: You know those free postcards that bars around the world feature? So this one’s from Hamburg, as in Germany. It was TAKEN from a bar in Hamburg and was SOLD in Albania, to our buddy The Goose. Simply amazing. What the hell is this, anyway? Why is it so disturbing?
And then we have this one — clearly worth the money. Three babies, in various emotional states. As the author of the postcard writes on the back: “All these years, with all our touchy feely schooling, I never learned the emotion ‘cry’ ” Three cheers for awful English.
BIRNAU, GERMANY — AM BODENSEE
Thanks Mom. The Bodensee is always appreciated.
MUNICH, GERMANY, BY WAY OF MARYLAND, WHERE THE POSTCARD WAS PURCHASED
The beauty of Bavaria — where’s the Hofbrauhaus? ‘In Muenchen steht ein Hofbrauhaus…’
FLORIDA, HO!
Shaniqua and Katie, represent! Welcome to Postcard Wars!
SUN-SHINE-STATE! SUN-SHINE-STATE! SUN-SHINE-STATE! SUN-SHINE-STATE!
On cows and marathons
Washington’s Marine Corps Marathon is awesome, and so are the 30,000 people who run it. I became aware of this while cheering for a friend of mine last weekend dressed as a giant cow.
Understand, of course, that the marathon took place the day after a Halloween party, so why wouldn’t I wear the cow outfit again? I expected it would be easier for my friend to spot me (oh yeah) and that it might motivate him to moooove a bit faster (not stopping anytime soon).
What wound up happening, though, was that the hundreds of marathoners who ran past me put on a tremendous display of humor while running, one that left me stunned by the response to my silly costume.
In order of frequency, here are the comments I got:
1. “That costume is udder-ly ridiculous!”
2. “Nice udder!” (Yes, the costume did feature a somewhat disgusting udder component.)
3. “Eat more chicken!”
4. “Got milk?”
5. “Holy cow!”
Even better were the handful of runners who ran out of their way to high-five me or — yes — milk the cow costume’s udder. One runner did so with his mouth — horrifying and hilarious at once. Anyway, anyone who can do that while running 26.2 miles is pretty cool in my book.
Here is a video of my friend Dan running at about the 7-mile mark:
Here is a video of a man who ran the whole marathon while juggling four balls:
And here are some random photos:
And, finally, how could I post a blog entry about marathons without giving a shout-out to my sister, who finished the New York Marathon on Sunday in 3:45. That makes how many marathons for you now, sister?
And with that, I’ll move on to greener pastures.
POSTCARD UPDATE! EXTRA POINTS! WAR ZONE! AN ACHIEVEMENT!
This is greatly appreciated.
Paved roads and all.
Not Constantinople
Another hello from Istanbul! This time with a dancing Turkish woman! Where are the kofte?
From the rugged isle of Sardinia…
…comes this greeting from my parents.
Well done, parents!
I do believe this is the first time Postcard Wars has received something from Italy or an Italian-controlled entity. This comes as somewhat of a surprise.
BendFilm 2006: Bend, Oregon
Pack your bags, lads, we’re off to BendFilm!
The charming Tower Theater by day.
The charming Tower Theater by night.
McMenamins in Bend — where you can sit on a couch, watch films and drink $3 Oregon microbrews.
An awards ceremony outside in a heated tent with neon blue lighting.
There were even neon-blue “light cubes” in guests’ drinking glasses. That’s just cool.
And, of course, the awards!
