The newest Lamy x Line Friends Safari, called Brown in the Red, just arrived at Fountain Pen Follies. It comes with the caution “too cute.” Because it is.
I had declared the first three from Line to be the cutest Safaris ever. But this new kid on the block is challenging for that crown. Here they are all together.
The new set is called “Brown in the Red.” In the Line world, “Brown” is the name of the bear character. This set contains two full-size versions of Brown, one that slips on the clip, as in the earlier sets, and one that sits on top of the pen. There’s a swanky red metal case.
Here are all our Line Friends, with Bear on the top of the cap, just chilling.
And here’s Bear on the clip. It looks like the Line friends invited their friend Joe Cool, the Pez dispenser, to join them this time.
You know what really is lunacy? Being so busy you have no time for breakfast or saying anything more than “bye” to your family, but putting everything down for a bit because the new installment of your Field Notes quarterly subscription has just arrived. In this case, good decision.
The new Field Notes quarterly limited edition is called Lunacy, and it’s really a good one. Even for fountain pen users, who sometimes are left out of the Field Notes fan base.
This was a great month for fountain pens and ink for me.
1. Kaweco Traveller Case. This little case worked its way into my heart, moving from curiosity to essential. Some prefer large cases, but not me. Sized for Kaweco pens, the Traveller fits small and standard-size fountain pens. It carries six of those, plus extras, but easily slips into purse or briefcase. That meant I started carrying multiple fountains for the first time. The price is a splurge, but the quality seems high.
2. Platinum Classic Maki-e. I fell for this, too. To keep the cost down, the maki-e on this pen starts with screen-printing, but it didn’t look or feel like a compromise to me or anyone else who tried it. It’s an attractive pen with a great nib at a great price. And it’s a maki-e pen that you don’t need to fuss over.
3. Pelikan Hub. That was lots of fun, meeting other Pelikan fans and trying other fountain pens and inks. Kudos to Pelikan for bringing people together. And thanks for the Pelikan Edelstein Aquamarine. If you get a chance to go next year, I recommend it.
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Photo by Dafne Cholet, Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.
I usually carry a Field Notes memo book around with me. In fact, I have a few going at any given time. Even though the paper inside is usually not fountain-pen friendly.
Noodler’s Pacific Dawn at the Golden Gate. This ink has a long name, a great label and an interesting and complex blue color. Also an interesting story: Noodler’s made Pacific Dawn at the Golden Gate for Straits Pen of Singapore to introduce at the 2016 San Francisco Pen Show.
So what’s been going on at the party palace that is Chez Fountain Pen Follies? Well, nothing that I want to share with the authorities, of course. But now that the Great Platinum Maki-e Contest is over, it’s quieter. We’re just hanging. And by “we,” I mean me and that pen up there.
The random winner of the Platinum Classic Maki-e from Pen Chalet is Gareth19. Congratulations to you, Gareth19, and I know you’ll enjoy this beautiful pen. Please use the Contact menu at the top of the page to send me your full name and address, so I can send you your new pen.
If the pen isn’t claimed by next Monday, I’ll do a new drawing next Tuesday and post that person’s name on the blog instead. Because if this thing stays with me much longer, there’s an excellent chance you’ll next see me hiding with it underground and cooing “my precious.”
But wait, because there’s more to give away. Ron at Pen Chalet and I were so blown away by the rhymes laid down by our commentators, that Pen Chalet is also going to give away two Flash Poetry Prizes. Each Flash Poetry Prize will be a new bottle of J. Herbin 1670 ink of the winner’s choice. I heartily recommend the new Caroube de Chypre, or Emerald of Chivor if you want a bolder color.
With the Flash Poetry prizes, there were so many great choices we just chose 11 of the most outstanding, then had a random number generator pick the two ultimate winners. And those are: Jorge Gomez and Robert Holland.
So Jorge and Robert, please use the Contact menu up there at the top of the page, to give me your names, addresses and choice of ink.
Congratulations to all the winners, and thank you to all the entrants. Those rhymes for Pen Chalet really did slay.
The Kaweco Traveler pen case is a six-pen case, in a temptingly soft leather, that fits not only Kaweco Sport fountain pens but also most standard-size fountain pens. It’s cleverly designed to fit a lot of gear in a compact package, which makes it ideal for carrying around.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, my surely engrossing, or at least on-topic, fountain pen posts are going to be postponed. I hope not for too long.
But what do we do when the going gets tough? Turn on the radio. Or the turntable. Or Spotify.
Given the month, what could be more appropriate than the song up there, September Gurls by Big Star? This one is from way, way back in the 1900s — 1974. It’s from an album called Radio City, which was the second album from Big Star, and truly it’s a lovely song. Since September Gurls has been covered by other groups, you may have heard it.
So, okay, some trivia. Big Star was a little group and never became big stars. But one of its members, and the principal songwriter, was the late, great Alex Chilton. You may have heard of his earlier group The Box Tops. And Chilton happened to be friends with a guy named William Eggleston. Now, just a few years later, Eggleston would start being recognized as one of the greatest photographers ever. But back then Eggleston wasn’t particularly well-known, and he gave his friend a recent photo for the cover. That photo, The Red Ceiling, is surely the most famous thing about the record today.
But the 1970s ended, and we came to the 1980s. In 1987, the band The Replacements put out a tribute to Alex Chilton, called, appropriately enough, Alex Chilton.
The Replacements were the greatest American band of the 1980s. (I think that’s been scientifically proven). Also, totally wrecked. Fun fact: the band broke up for good during a concert, on stage, in Chicago.
I don’t like old music, but The Replacements are the bomb, even today. Scrolling through their YouTube videos, I’m in heaven. Merry Go Round. Kiss Me on the Bus. Unsatisfied. I’ll Be You. The whole of Let It Be. It does seem that they were never all sober at the same time, so if “on-key” or “well played” are important aspects to music, don’t even click.
But then the next decade came, the 1990s, and everything changed. Again. There was this little band, that became huge, called Nirvana. Back in the 1900s. And it’s very hard to believe this, but tomorrow will be the 25th anniversary of the release of their second album, a little thing called Nevermind.
Actually, if you watch the video, it does seem like 25 years ago. Because that is the most dated video ever. Check out the the hair flips. We could do a drinking game to the hair flips: “He/she flipped his/her hair; drink!” Except we’d all be passed out drunk within the first minute and a half.
Fountain Pen Follies 