When I am 64

Music is a very captivating hobby, for it can take you back in your memory lane and flash your life in fast forward. Or it can take you into the future. My post today is about one such song that took me into my future almost four decades ago. 

It was early 1972, when I, in my very teens, walked up to a nearby market, called Hall Road in Lahore, one day to buy a prized double jacketed freshly arrived LP of the Beatles: The Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band. Although, the album had been released somewhere in 1966 or 1967, but it was made available in market in Pakistan in 1972. 

The glistering and glowing double jacket of the album was fascinating with inner side containing portrait of the Beatles clad in the uniform, lyrics on the reverse and the band standing amid famous celebrities of the time. There was someone who was hovering his hand on Paul McCartney's head which later caused a rumor that Paul had died. Well nothing of that sort happened as Paul is still alive along with Ringo Starr, while John Lennon and George Harrison are no more.

Now coming back to the album. All the songs were really musical and entertaining. One of the song that I heard and I just shrugged off at the tender age of 17 was "When I am Sixty Four," by Paul McCartney. I just laughed at myself looking into the future when I would really be 64, for I was young, enterprising, with a full life ahead.

Well I was mistaken !!

The time and tide did not wait for me to be frozen to let me continue enjoying my carefree teenage and years started to roll by and there came 2019 when on 7 August I turn 64. Frankly speaking I had waited all these years since 1972 to be 64, which God willing I am today, and thought of writing this post. 

And I do it with a tinge of melancholy for my youth has just gone so quickly, in fact earlier than I thought when I was seventeen. Incidentally, although the theme is ageing, it was one of the first songs McCartney wrote, when he was 16, and included it in the album Sgt. Pepper in December 1966 because his father turned 64 earlier that year.

Join me in listening to the original score "When I'm 64" sung by Beatles' Paul McCartney - for it will take me back four decades before, while if some teen is reading this post will shrug off this post and song as rubbish and too early to be worried about:

But let me , timtell youe flies faster than we think !!

Photo Header | References : Wikipedia |
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Top 10 Biggest RC Planes Ever !!

It was way back in the 1960s when I first came to know about the RC airplanes. One of my elder brothers had a flare for assembling kits of airplanes made of balsa wood and paper. He would artfully assemble his airplane kits and then we used to go to an abandoned air strip some distance away from our home where he used to fly the airplanes with the remote control gadgets.

Another friend of my elder brother, who was equally RC planes enthusiast, would join in for competition of how far their planes could go before getting out of the RC gadgets range. Sometimes the airplanes would crash and were brought back for reassembling and made flight worthy again.

Bu that was some six decades ago. Since then, the technology of making RC planes has undergone tremendous change and so has the range of the RC gadgets. While ordinary enthusiasts still fly smaller planes, there are professional hobbyists who go for bigger and bigger birds. And some planes really look tremendous and majestic when in the air. I came across this video of 10 biggest toy air planes and was really fascinated to see giant toy plane models taking off, flying, maneuvering and then landing. Do watch the video below and you will be amazed - really amazed !!

Have you seen these before?

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Philately: Index Pakistan Postage Stamps - 1947 to 1971

Pakistan surfaced as an independent sovereign country on 14 August 1947 after the division of British India into India and Pakistan. For an initial period of almost one year, Pakistan Post used the stamps of British India with "Pakistan" overprinted on these.

• 1947

On 9th July 1948, the Pakistan Post issued a set of four commemorative stamps with a face value of One and a Half, Two and a Half and 3 Anas and Re.1.

The stamps pictured above bore the photographs of Assembly Building (Karachi), Karachi Airport and Lahore Fort. The fourth stamp (Rupee. 1) bore a Crescent and Star with word “Pakistan” written inside the crescent and the word Long Live Pakistan, written on the lower border. Both inscriptions were in Urdu. This stamp was designed by the famous water colour maestro Abdul Rehman Chughtai.

Sardar Abdur-Rab Nishter and Musarrat Hussain Zuberi showing the set of first postage stamps to Liaquat Ali Khan, the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Other than the Re. 1 stamp, the remaining three stamps were designed by two artists: Rasheed-ud-Din and Muhammad Latif.

• 1948
• 1949
• 1950: No new stamps were issued in 1950
• 1951
• 1952: In 1952, Pakistan Post issued a set of two Commemorative Stamps only on the eve of   Commemorating 100 Years of Postal Services in Asia - The Scinde Dawk|

• 1953: No new stamps were issued in 1953
• 1954
• 1955
• 1956
• 1957
• 1958
• 1959

From 1961 a new era in Pakistan Post ushers in - read on !!

1960 was the last year of postage stamps of Pakistan with face value in "Ana." The last stamp in Ana denomination was issued on 24th December 1960, bearing the photo of the Zamzamma or the Kim's Gun or the Bhangian de Tope, on the eve of National Scout Jamboree held at Lahore.

• 1960
• Read more about the Zamzamma

From 1st January 1961, Pakistan switched over to the decimal system and the face value of the stamps change from "Ana" to "Paisa". However, the previous stamps overprinted with "Paisa" continued for sometime.

• 1961
• 1962
• 1963
• 1964
• 1965
• 1966 | Commemorative Stamps | Jinnah – The First Portrait |
• 1967 | Commemorative stamps | Coronation of Reza Shah Pehalvi of Iran - Oct 1967 |
• 1968

1968 was the end of a golden era of development in Pakistan. From 1958 to 1968 when Pakistan was under a military ruler, the country saw a period of real development in all spheres. Pakistan's economic plans were so versatile and progressive that even Korea borrowed the plans and made their country progressive. To commemorate the decade of development a set of four stamps was issued showing development in various segments of economy of Pakistan.

• 1969
• 1970
• 1971

1971 was the last year when Pakistan Post printed stamps for both wings of Pakistan, i.e. the East and West Pakistan. From 1972, there was only one Pakistan after the East Pakistan became Bangladesh. However, the word "Pakistan" written in Bengali continued on Pakistan postage stamps throughout in 1972 and from 1973 the Bengali scripture was done away with, forever. Incidentally, the last stamp of 1971 was issued on the eve of Pakistan winning the World Hockey Championship title at Barcelona, Spain.

Continue seeing Pakistan Postage stamps through our next two indexes:

• Index: Pakistan Postage Stamps issued from 1972-2000
• Index: Pakistan Postage Stamps issued from 2001 till date

Pakistan Postage Stamps since 1947 have been published in our two blogs and website on Pakistan:

• Hobby Shobbys
• My Philatelic World
• Pakistanpaedia (First Stamps: 1947-1960)
• Pakistanpaedia (Stamps issued 1961-1980)
• Pakistanpaedia (Stamps issued 1981-2000)
• Pakistanpaedia (Stamps issued 2000 -2004)

Originally posted at our sister blog My Philatelic World
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Bokeh Sunday

The caption of my post my sound unfamiliar for bokeh cannot be a Sunday nor Sunday can be a bokeh for both are different things - but for me the last Sunday, that was yesterday, it made sense. For it was Sunday and I wanted to try the bokeh feature of my One Plus 5T cellphone my son gifted to me awhile ago. So it was a Bokeh Sunday or was it a Beautiful Sunday as was sung by Daniel Boon in 1972 when I was in my teens !!

And thanks to my wife who has maintained a beautiful garden loaded with flowers and trees. Though it is too early for our garden to bloom as spring is still a month away, some dying and blooming flowers and bushes gave me enough canvas to shoot my Bokeh Sunday !!

For those who are not familiar with the word Bokeh, the Wikipedia defines it as: In photography, bokeh (/ˈboʊkeɪ/ BOH-kay;[1] Japanese: [boke]) is the aesthetic quality of the blur produced in the out-of-focus parts of an image produced by a lens.

So scroll down and see whether I really made good my Sunday in trying the bokeh feature of my smartphone - I am sure I will get a thumb up from you. And for me it is some achievement as I am just a novice in photography.

Let us start!!

 

 The remains of past glory

Now coming to the roses. Though the season is already ending for the full blown roses, some still remained for me to try on my bokeh Sunday!!

 Yellows

Varying hues

 Monochrome

 White beauty

Cineraria

One thing before I end. While looking for some close ups, I came across this delight - honey bees busy making a Honey Mall. Well that was some excitement for I will have pure bee honey in a short while. And when I shared this photo on Facebook, many friends started collecting bottles to drain out the honey in the making. For the time being I asked them to bring droppers for there would hardly be any honey. But I think in the end it will be looted away and I will left with nothing.

Do tell me my Bokeh photo shots - why don't you share yours?

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Awe Inspiring Photo shoot of Snowy Winter

Winters are always cold, shivering and snowy. While many like the rather moderate weathers, many like winters when it is snowing. I remember when my children were growing they always felt excited when taken to a hill station full of snow.  Recently my elder son who is in Munich, Germany sent me these awesome photos he took of snow fall around him.

Although, these have been taken by his cellphone camera, the aesthetic scene is clearly visible of taking the shots with their dramatic effect. Mesmerized by this awe inspiring shootout, I thought of sharing it with my readers who love nature and snowfall and are fond of preserving these wonderful moments of one's life.

The above two photos are simply classic. But the following photos is something very different and eye catching:

Why eye catching? Look again. If you looked closely you will find a red band on the pole to the near right of the photos and a distant reddish lamp light almost in the middle far end of the photo.  I do not know whether it was intended or just came out that way. But to my mind, it is something unique - two red stops in a snowy pathway with night darkness above. Did you look again?

And now this photo - look again closely and try to find a rooster. Did you find? Well it is not an actual rooster but look on the right half way and the snow seems to have shaped a pole just like a rooster. And to me it looks like a frozen rooster. Doest it to you too?

And this last photo: The bench looks like a basket full of snow. They surely say right that there is no limit to one's imagination - and they are damn right !!

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Awesome Colours of Autumn - the Mellower Season

Spring is the most loved seasons of all when there are flowers everywhere, multicolored, eye catching and sweet smelling. But ever wondered the beauty of autumn when ever leaf is a flower?

 

 Yes, I really mean it. When the cold winds of winters start to blow and the leaves start to fall, they cover the entire landscape with such beautifully coloured leaves of varying shades of pale and yellow that one is left spellbound.

Autumn is also called the fall which commences from late September continues through early winters. It is the time of transition of green leaves  to light yellow, deep gold, orange, crimson and dark red. The landscape looks so beautiful that compelled Albert Camus to say: “Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower. “ 

 

Though the falling leaves are dying, they die with such a grace that saying goodbye to them is difficult. John Barrows say: “How beautifully leaves grow old. How full of light and color are their last days.” Yes the last days are fascinating. And walking over these colourful leaves with the chirpy cries of the dying leaves  beneath one's feet is a fun of another kind.

Autumn is the season when the poets and writers are at their best for the sadness coupled with beauty is much more difficult to describe than the freshness of spring. Stanley Horowitz describes the autumn season the best: “Winter is an etching, spring a watercolor, summer an oil painting and autumn a mosaic of them all.”

 

The autumn leaves have a language of their own. The Autumn leaves tell of a season of letting things go, it can also be a season of renewal and rebirth. For every goodbye is a harbinger for many welcomes, smiles and happiness. When it is autumn, do go out and walk on the dried leaves, for they had once adorned the trees with varying shades of greens. Though one can feel the nostalgia of someone going, springs erases such melancholy and renews life once again.

“Autumn mornings: sunshine and crisp air, birds and calmness, year’s end and day’s beginnings.”  – Terri Guillemets

Photos: A combination of shared photos from Pixabay and self taken autumn shots
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Photo shootout of Pale Sunset Light

Sunsets are always appealing for the hues these last fading pale yellow sunlight. I always look for this appealing light falling on my house or its surroundings to make it memorable for me and others to adore !!

Herein under are a few shots I recently took, making the sunset immortal.

The bird flying to catch the last sun rays of the evening.

Here are a couple of more shots:

All photos have been shot by me !!

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