STAMPS by SPIROS

greetings


there are, oh, ever so many things, look you see, that i did not think would happen, or if you like occur, within the span of the day, months or perhaps years that i have left on this planet. i suppose i could provide you with examples of this, but as they would mostly revolve around or relate to the significant development of grey hair i have on the go, let's rather cut to the chase. which, in fairness, would result in us getting to the point and purpose of the title of this blog.

i have, dear reader, as of yesterday become the custodian, and indeed the curator, of one of the most important collections held within the western world. yes, i, simple, humble me, have or has had greatness thrust upon me in the form of taking ownership of the much vaunted, highly celebrated stamp collection of Spiros. or, at the least, what remains of it.

yes the above is indeed all that remains. the full collection was eight, but the stamps which featured Idi Amin and Yitzhak Rabin are now lost. how were they lost? well, Spiros tells people that they were destroyed by jealous insurgents from Syria or some other made up place, and screamed "daeth to the infidels" as they threw them off a building. i happen to know for a fact that he gave them away to a gentleman whom he made a brief yet apparently beneficial friendship with in a bathroom facility in Istanbul.

but let us worry about the stamps that survived. are you noticing something of a common trend across all but one? yes, that's right. in order to celebrate and show if his liberal way of life, Spiros has devoted much of his life to collecting stamps what feature world leaders renowned for a similar sense of liberalism. yes, i have over the years asked Spiros if he is absolutely certain that most, if not all, of these were indeed exponents of liberal values. his answer to this is that it is "not his problem" if over the years victors have written history in a way that enhances their own stature at the expense of others.

the odd one out? Thomas Pringle, bottom middle. Spiros was particularly pleased to send me this one, as he said that he was my favourite poet. at the risk of upsetting this perception i had to ask Spiros why he believed this, as i only vaguely recalled him. Spiros assured me that whilst we were at University i once handed in an essay on the Pringle of Thomas. apparently it was one of the most sublime, well composed, considered and finest essays ever submitted to the University in respect of poetry or any other subject, let down or if you like marred by the fact that i had insisted on addressing the poet exclusively as Thomas "wanker wanker" Pringle, due to the fact that i did not care for him.

whilst i do not recall writing such an essay - i can barely remember what i write here - i do not for one minute dispute or doubt that this was indeed the case. Spiros remembers these things better than i do, and it pretty much sounds like something i would have done.

meanwhile, whilst we are in the philately zone, i read a report with great interest this week which suggested that Royal Mail considers moving to a system where they only deliver mail on three days of each week, as it will help cut costs. i would draw the attention of Royal Mail representatives reading this towards the bits in italics. as this is not an official approach or policy as such as yet, it would be greatly appreciated if they would then resume the service to us which they are commissioned to do and deliver post to us, correctly, no matter what day of the week it is. thanks.

by the way, no, "daeth" is not a typo. this is how Spiros said that the gentlemen in the bathroom facility said it, presumably before they snatched his two stamps and made a dash for it.

anyway, off i go, then, to presumably construct some sort of vault or other such secure means of keeping these stamps safe.



be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!