Fans of Star Wars—Yoda Postage Stamp

Today, the U.S. Postal Service announced the issue of a Yoda commemorative 41¢ stamp. YaY! Seems that America voted and this was the top vote getter.

Postal Service Issues Yoda Commemorative Stamp Oct. 25

May the Force Be With You

INDIANAPOLIS, IN — Earlier this year America voted which of their favorite Star Wars characters should appear on a postage stamp. Beginning later this month, Hoosiers will be able to purchase stamps bearing the likeness of 900-year-old Jedi Master Yoda.

The Postal Service will issue a 41-cent Yoda commemorative stamp in New York City Oct. 25.

“With this special issuance, the U.S. Postal Service fulfills the wishes of the hundreds of thousands of people who voted online for their favorite Star Wars stamp,” said Al Eakle, a spokesman for the Greater Indiana District of the U.S. Postal Service. “This new stamp depicts Yoda as people have always known him: stately and wise, a mentor and a Jedi—and a major force in the most beloved space adventure of all time.”

The full Star Wars stamp collection — 15 images from the movie — will remain on sale until May 25, 2008, while the single Yoda stamp will remain available through Oct. 25, 2008, continuing one of the most unique collaborations in Star Wars and U.S. Postal Service history.

Customers have 60 days to obtain the first day of issue postmark by mail. They may purchase the new stamp at the NAME OF TOWN Post Office, at The Postal Store Web site at www.usps.com/shop or by calling 800-STAMP-24. They should affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope addressed to:

YODA STAMP
POSTMASTER
421 EIGHTH AVE RM 2029B
NEW YORK NY 10199-9998.

After applying the first day of issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark. All orders must be postmarked by December 24, 2007.

Stamp Fulfillment Services also offers first day covers for new stamp issues and Postal Service stationery items postmarked with the official first day of issue cancellation. Each item has an individual catalog number and is offered in the quarterly USA Philatelic catalog. Customers may request a free catalog by calling 800-STAMP-24 or writing to:

INFORMATION FULFILLMENT
DEPT 6270
US POSTAL SERVICE
PO BOX 219014
KANSAS CITY MO 64121-9014

Philatelic Products
There are seven philatelic products available for this stamp issue:

Uncut Press - 461584 Sheet Left, $24.60
Uncut Press - 461586 Sheet Right, $24.60
First Day Cover- 461561, $0.79
Digital - $1.50 461565, Color Postmark,
Ceremony Program- 461591, $6.95
First - $8.99 461593, Day Cover Keepsake
Digital - $9.70 461599 Keepsake, Color Postmark Cancellation

Laugh of the Day

Thanks to my friends Bill & Rob for this one:

A man walks into a restaurant with a full-grown ostrich behind him. The waitress asks them for their orders.

The man says, “A hamburger, fries and a coke,” and turns to the ostrich, “What’s yours?” “I’ll have the same,” says the ostrich.

A short time later the waitress returns with the order “That will be $9.40 please,” and the man reaches into his pocket and pulls out the exact change for payment.

The next day, the man and the ostrich come again and the man says, “A hamburger, fries and a coke.”

The ostrich says, “I’ll have the same.” Again the man reaches into his pocket and pays with exact change.

This becomes routine until the two enter again. “The usual?” asks the waitress. “No, this is Friday night, so I will have a steak, baked potato and a salad,” says the man. “Same,” says the ostrich.

Shortly the waitress brings the order and says, “That will be $32.62.”

Once again the man pulls the exact change out of his pocket and places it on the table.

The waitress cannot hold back her curiosity any longer. “Excuse me, sir. How do you manage to always come up with the exact change in your pocket every time?”

“Well,” says the man, “several years ago I was cleaning the attic and found an old lamp. When I rubbed it, a Genie appeared and offered me two wishes.

My first wish was that if I ever had to pay for anything, I would just put my hand in my pocket and the right amount of money would always be there.”

“That’s brilliant!” says the waitress. “Most people would ask for a million dollars or something, but you’ll always be as rich as you want for as long as you live!”

“That’s right. Whether it’s a gallon of milk or a Rolls Royce, the exact money is always there,” says the man.

The waitress asks, “What’s with the ostrich?”

The man sighs, pauses and answers, “My second wish was for a tall chick with a big ass and long legs who agrees with everything I say.”

Photo of Ostrich by Carsten Peter

Editing Tip(s) of the Day

Dashes. Besides a regular dash, there is the en dash (–) and the em dash (—) and each is used differently. You use an en dash (the width of the letter ‘n’) to signify ranges (e.g. ‘Roughly 10–12 people showed up for the party.’) or durations (8:00 P.M.–2:00 A.M.) and an em dash (the width of the letter ‘m’) is used to connect two sentences. During my search for references for this tip, I found an excellent one at Wikipedia. It does a much better job at explaining this subject. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash

If you work in HTML the codes are [without any spaces] & #8211; (en dash) and & #8212; (em dash). It really makes your pages look more professional when you use the correct dashes. More HTML codes here: www.ascii.cl/htmlcodes.htm or www.tntluoma.com/sidebars/codes/

T-Shirt of the Day

These t-shirts are only $16.99 for Sm-XL and $19.99 for 2X-4X Large. You can order by clicking on the image.

Other colors and products with the “I know you have one” design can be found here: www.cafepress.com/jabetasresale/1145299

All designs can be found here: www.cafepress.com/jabetasresale

Photo of the Day

Oregon Storm, Marilyn Affolter, Amity, OR

As some of you know, I love storms. When we have a storm, I’m the one in the back yard or on the porch watching with amazement. The new Storm Chasers on Discovery Channel has me riveted! I would love to be one of the crew members chasing down tornadoes. Just to see a real tornado would be awesome. Don’t get me wrong—I don’t like the aftermath of tornadoes and my heart goes out to all the victims.

Today's Words to Define

chromosome
churlish
circumlocution
circumnavigate
deciduous

chromosome: \krō'mə-sōm'\; A circular strand of DNA in bacteria that contains the hereditary information necessary for cell life; any of several threadlike bodies, consisting of chromatin, that carry the genes in a linear order: the human species has 23 pairs, designated 1 to 22 in order of decreasing size and X and Y for the female and male sex chromosomes respectively.
churlish: \chûr'lĭsh\; Of, like, or befitting a churl; boorish or vulgar; difficult to work or deal with, as soil.
circumlocution: \sûr'kəm-lō-kyōō'shən\; a roundabout or indirect way of speaking; the use of more words than necessary to express an idea; evasion in speech or writing; a style that involves indirect ways of expressing things.
circumnavigate: \sûr'kəm-nāv'ĭ-gāt'\; To proceed completely around; to go around; circumvent; to sail or fly around; make the circuit of by navigation.
deciduous: \dĭ-sĭj'ōō-əs\; shedding the leaves annually, as certain trees and shrubs; not permanent; transitory.