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            | Monday, August 20, 2018Williams Street Swap Shop & "The Deal On Beale" ! 3:53 pm cdtTurner Broadcasting, the Adult Swim & Cartoon Network,
                  The William Street Swap Shop and great host Zach White along with his great technicians, Jackson, Jay and Eddie, honored me
                  with a week-long celebration of my birthday that included three one hour live broadcasts seen throughout the world.  On the front page, Zach, me, Jackson and Jay (Eddie is with us
                  on the side) !   
 The first, a live one hour interview from
                  my home on the phone on August 1st. The second,
                  a live one hour visit in my home on August 8th. I
                  played the piano and sang for viewers. Zach is talking with me about stamp collecting in the photo below.
 Thank you, Jackson, for the fantastic Memphis T-Shirt (I'm wearing
                  it) that you designed for me. It was the best birthday surprise ever !
  
 Finally a visit downtown that I arranged for
                  Zach and his great crew prior to their departure from Memphis. 
 I took the Swap Shop crew on a tour of Memphis
                  after I had dinner with them at Blues City Cafe on Beale Street.  Thank you Johnny Stinson, Lonnie Hammer, James Alexander and Boo Mitchell for accepting my invitation to participate.
                   I also want to thank Johnny and Cathy Stinson
                  and all of my beautiful friends who made it to the surprise birthday party for me at Lafayette's Music Hall in Overton Square
                  ! It was an unforgettable evening ! Much love to all ! 
 The Williams Street Swap Shop is seen by
                  millions of viewers daily at 5pm Eastern, 4pm Central  Thank
                  you Zach White, Matthew Hutchinson, Jackson, Jay, Eddie, Turner Broadcasting, AdultSwim, the Cartoon Network and The Williams
                  Street Swap Shop, Blues City Cafe and The Hard Rock Cafe Memphis for "The Deal on Beale", and for my making
                  my birthday a very special one. Zach promised
                  that he'll be back very soon to do another special with me.
 Stay tuned ! 
 
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       For the next few weeks I'll be talking
         about the first day covers of ArtCraft along with everything else.
ArtCraft closed it's doors recently after 76 years of making philatelic history.
I'm  predicting a sudden, salubrious escalation in the value
         of the ArtCraft  cachet, all ArtCraft first day covers and ArtCraft portrait cards.
Including those connected to the Postal Commemorative Society
Their  departure signals the end of an extraordinarily crucial,
         very  important, highly significant and exceedingly meaningful period in  philately
A mournful signal which will be heard around the world and
         lamented throughout the multitude of collectors
Leo
         and Sam August treasured their associations with the world's greatest philatelists
Leo's  contributions to our hobby were significant enough
         to earn the coveted  Luft Award and a place in the American Philatelic Society Hall of Fame.
ArtCraft has well-earned it's place in the great chronological
         record in the history of philately.
Their
         raised ink, line-engraved intaglio printed cachets rank among the most aesthetic in the world.
ArtCraft cachets are not just beautiful. 
They are works
         of art that showcase the wonders of the world and illuminate the powers of human creativity and ingenuity.
         The Coober Pedy Cover
One of the World's Great Philatelic Rarities 

Could this become la pièce
         de résistance de toute la modern Australian philatélie ? 
Coober  Pedy is a town in northern South Australia. The town is sometimes   referred to as the "opal
         capital of the world" because of the quantity   of precious opals that are mined there. Coober Pedy is renowned for its
           below-ground residences,called "dugouts", which are built in this   fashion due to the scorching daytime heat.
         The name "Coober Pedy" comes   from the local Aboriginal term kupa-piti, which means "white man's   hole".
Opal was found in Coober Pedy on 1 February 1915; since   then the town has been supplying most of the world's gem-quality
         opal.   Coober Pedy today relies as much on tourism as the opal mining industry   to provide the community with employment
         and sustainability. Coober  Pedy  has over 70 opal fields and is the largest opal mining area in the   world.
Coober
         Pedy - no village, no buildings, no roads, just   desert, mountains dotted with boulders. A bizarre lunar landscape, but 
          for opal seekers is the most exciting place on earth, where again every   day is the true challenge, happiness and luck just
         a shovel width apart   and where life is defined by two words: winners and losers. Coober  Pedy,  grab your hat, throw it
         into the air and where it lands start  digging ! 
 

 
 
      
          “The Scott
         Numbers are the copyrighted property of Amos Press Inc., dba Scott 
Publishing Co. The marks Scott and Scott’s are Registered in the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, 
and are trademarks of Amos Press, Inc. dba Scott Publishing Co. No
         use may be 
made of these marks or of
         material which is reprinted from a copyrighted 
publication
         of Amos Press, Inc., without the express written permission of Amos 
Press, Inc., dba Scott Publishing Co., Sidney, Ohio 45365.”