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So, I sat down and paid my bills today and realized that I had enough wiggle room for a small treat, so I went out in search of a cheap fountain pen. The Kaweco Sport Ice is a German made fountain pen that retails for around $15.
So of course I ordered two. A blue fountain pen like the orange one in the picture above, and also a clear "demonstrator" model:
Then of course, I had to order ink, but fortunately was able to stop myself before I started to browse the stationery and journals.
If I had lots of money, I'd order one of these beauties:
It would be a tough contest between whether to order to blue one or the tiger-eye one beneath it. But those are like a hundred and fifty bucks, so it can wait for another time.
What do you think? The blue?
I finally (finally!) finished The Pickwick Papers this weekend. I've been reading it for months. All the blog reading and writing I do seems to mean that I only really get time to read when I'm out of town, waiting on a plane, or my internet connection goes tits-up.
One day, if I'm a good little theropod, I'll be able to use my pens to describe Michelle Malkin and her "Hot Air" flunkies as well as Dickens describes a similar news organ of his own time:
'The INDEPENDENT, sir,' replied Pott, 'is still dragging on a wretched and lingering career. Abhorred and despised by even the few who are cognisant of its miserable and disgraceful existence, stifled by the very filth it so profusely scatters, rendered deaf and blind by the exhalations of its own slime, the obscene journal, happily unconscious of its degraded state, is rapidly sinking beneath that treacherous mud which, while it seems to give it a firm standing with the low and debased classes of society, is nevertheless rising above its detested head, and will speedily engulf it for ever.'
Yes, "stifled by the filth it so profusely scatters, rendered deaf and blind by the exhalations of its own slime, the obscene journal, happily unconscious of its degraded state…". I laughed out loud when I read that part on the plane back from Washington. May the mud rise above their detested heads, and speedily engulf them 4 EVAR!!!
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Hello, TRex!!
A Quickie!
When there is a choice of consumer-product colors, and one of the colors is purple, there’s really no choice at all. This philosophy (or prejudice) has resulted in many purple items in my home.
blue, TRex, blue
TeddySanFran @ 3
Oh, Mary.
So contrary.
That purple and green would be prefect for you, Teddy. It has a certain Disney villainess quality that I believe would serve you well.
Office supplies! Fitz! Jane! Christy! TRex! Pach! Bright shiny objects!
Disney villianness indeed — my favorite Disney character is Malificent!
(#2 = Cruella deVil!)
Suzanne @ 4
That’s a gorgeous pen, isn’t it? Damn.
I may need to sell a kidney or something.
Screw the writing implements, dude. I want one of THESE!
In blue, please.
Pens with nibs still give me chills. My third grade teacher, Mrs. Davidson, made us write with fountain pens. Being a lefty, I never mastered the skill. I came home every day with my hand and wrist blue-black.
Can you deduct the blue pen if you use it for political writings only?
I’ve been away a lot today. Has Mr. TRex addressed the accusations Rep. Rahrbacher has leveled against his kin? :)
Dixie Chicks Rule. I think we have WON!!!
Renee in Ohio @ 12
It was the dog! I swear!
Trex – I once got a fountain pen from a grateful friend, and all I did was make a mess. I really can’t be trusted with anything more than a dull crayon. My handwriting is illegible anyway so I’m just as well off typing.
Oh, the tiger eye, definitely…the blue looks like something my kids would love, meaning it would be infinitely tempting to itchy fingers.
The tiger eye looks professional and intent on a mission; the color looks like honey and mother of pearl, flattering to someone with your coloring.
What kind of ink did you buy? Wondered if you’d had a chance to visit Fahrney’s while in DC.
I’m out of the pen market until after I get two things behind me: the annual tax prep, following a payment from customer and related financials. Ugh. Until I ’splain the need for those Monteverde Mauna Keas to the tax dude, I don’t think I’m going to indulge my curiosity in one of those Sport Ice jobs. Only thing I’ve sprung for was a microfiber zippered pen case for my Mauna Keas — found it for 6 bucks at Tuesday Morning (bonus!).
TRex @
14
Dana Rahrbacher (R-SBD*)
*silent but deadly
Album of the year: DIXIE CHICKS!!!
Take that…and that… wingnuts!
Can’t wait to hear the commentary tomorrow.
petedownunder @ 15
There are some amazing pens these days. A company called Rotring
makes super tough pens and mechanical pencils that are as easy to use as roller balls. Rotrings are serious German pens that work very hard and are indestructible.
If it ever breaks, they’ll replace it free.
And fountain pens improve your handwriting if you use them over time.
now, TRex, you’ve had issues with online shopping before, n’est-ce pas? I believe we retired the humorous taser references after the horrific UCLA incident, but still…is this going to require an intervention by Jane?
punaise @ 20
Shhhhhhhh.
She’s gone to bed. I checked.
lectric lady @ 18
And Song of the Year for Not Ready To Make Nice to boot! I can hear the wingnutosphere having a collective choking right now.
Oooh, those are pretty. Thanks, T-Rex. I’m writing with a $30 Mount Blanc right now that is nowhere near as pretty as those.
Ok, fess up. I’ve listened to all 8 hours of Libby’s Grand Jury Testimony (got the mp3s on my iPod.) Am I the only one?
An 80 word sentence!
That’s some fantastical writing by Dickens.
Have pens with nibs improved so much that lefties can use them without smearing?
kitt @ 24
Don’t you think he wanted to blow the smoke off the barrel of his pen like a cowboy with a six shooter after he wrote that?
TRex @ 21
but of course: “what goes on in Late Nite stays in Late Nite”
TeddySanFran @ 25
I know some leftie pen users. They would have to tell you what brands and models are best.
TeddySanFran @ 25
Only if you write backwards, as I do when faced with a fountain pen.
I like the tiger eye as much as I like the blue one too. I would personally take the tiger eye because I agree with Rayne, thats a more professional looking one. But the blue is too. Damnit man, decisions!
wow: Rotring – there’s a name I had forgotten. any architect or engineer working prior to the advent of CAD would have a full set of finicky Rapidograph ink drawing pens.
TRex –
What lovely pens! Sweet!
Please forgive me for going Off-Topic, but I got seriously EPU’d two threads down on the “book” topic, and because these items are FREE, FREE, FREE (and also otherwise hard to find), I want to make sure more people see this.
Here’s what I posted:
Mrs. K8 @ 184
I got a pack of PR American Blue cartridges and a set of PR Blue Suede. I’ve been a bottled ink user for so long, and just lately I have started to crave the convenience of cartridges again.
You get so much more ink with a bottle, but damn, it can be a pain in the ass. My Mauna Kea is really temperamental when you use the converter. Half the time it just blows bubbles and then fills only a third of the way with ink. Couple that with the fact that my bottle of Waterman Blue-Black is almost empty, and it turns into a Major Fucking Pain to run out of ink.
I stuck a Waterman cartridge in it and it’s all smooth sailing, suddenly.
TRex @ 26
Good one, TRex.
And, while I’m here, Wow on the Dixie Chicks. That is Grrrrreat…
Mrs K8, woohoo happy dance at your good news!
Dropping something here for Scarecrow, in case he reads through here, about another dog not barking.
Seems a former agent is suing the CIA for wrongful discharge. CIA is doing utmost to protect this former agent’s identity.
Why didn’t the Bush Admin do the same for Valerie’s cover company, I wonder, or any of the assets with which it worked?
I do love the tiger-eye one. It looks like if you licked it, it would taste like a creamy mix of coffee, toffee, and caramel. The blue one seems like it would be so eye-catching to pull out and start writing with. People tables away would be captivated. “Look at that pen!”
Of course, all of this is unfolding in my head in some incredibly chic lounge on a high speed mag-lev train to Zurich or something.
It could happen.
TRex — yeah, I hear you about the bottle v. cartridge. Way back when I was a lowly draftsman with time on my hands, I’d bother with the bottled ink and refilling. But now with all the stuff I have going on and carpal tunnel, too, I’d rather do cartridges most of the time and save the bottle stuff for signing contracts. You’re an active guy anyhow with a happening lifestyle, should be cartridges all the time, eh?
WaPo chatz tomorrow:
Shailagh Murray at 11 eastern
Howie Kurtz at noon.
Mag-lev to Zurich? See, happening lifestyle.
I was thinking more along the lines of a table in front of a bistro in Paris, writing in blue-black ink about the people walking by. Or maybe a quick sketch in black ink of the gardens surrounding the pond at Giverny…too sedentary, slow.
TRex @ 37
The tiger eye will elicit a “hmmm” reaction in that lounge, the blue would get a “oooooohhhhh” reaction. And of course, you would be sitting next to someone like Prince William or Prince Harry and assorted other Euro Royalty as you zip towards the Alps for a ski trip.
I can see it happening. I got ya.
Suzanne @ 35
Thanks, Suzanne! I’m dancing Snoopy-fashion myself, as you can imagine. So nice to have dance partners here!
(For anyone interested in how it all turned out, check out what I posted below in the “book” thread (2 threads down).
I really hate to run this second, but have to go help Mr. K8 with something. He’s fixing cabinet doors and I have to help out with the level, and holding doors while he drills. Then I have to cut his hair. Hope to be back later.
I LOVE YOU ALL! And am grateful beyond telling for all your prayers/good thoughts.
Teddy SF,
I’m left-handed, and when I started to write with fountain pens about 15 years ago, I retrained myself to “under-write.” My hand doesn’t go across what I’ve just written unless I get careless.
What ink you use also matters, as some inks dry much slower than others. If you have problems with dragging your hand across what you’ve written, stay far, far away from Levenger and Private Reserve inks. Waterman and Parker will be better for you. And if it works with your writing style, an extra-fine nib lays down less ink, leaving less on the page for you to smear.
A really good pen for you to try might be a vintage Waterman with an “account” nib. These were designed for entering data into accounting ledgers, and they are some of the narrowest nibs around. You can probably find a Waterman 52 (from the 1920s) in decent condition on eBay for $75-100, and if you don’t like it you can resell it in the same place for about the same amount.
Nooooo. I don’t have a lifestyle. If I got one of those, I’d have to get a hairstyle. And we all know how painful that can be.
Thank you.
TeddySanFran @
10
The trick to this is to rotate the paper extreme clockwise, about 110 deg. from normal. I could write that way without having to curl my hand around so that it smudged everything.
The downside was that every teacher thought I was showing my test paper to the person to my left, though. :)
Ick. No. Just going to Zurich to manage some accounting stuff with my 6′8″ German boyfriend, Mannfred.
TRex, that’s cruel. I love pens!
My favorite right now is a chisel tipped calligraphy pen, in a turquoise green. Kind of like a Sharpie.
Marcy demonstrates how her book will grip and crush the Bush administration.
Heh.
TRex @ 47
You just made Blinded By the Light pop into my head. Damnit man! [off to Napster]
Ooh, the blue one.
Anyone know a Canadian mailorder source for fountain pens?
TRex — look, your getting a happening lifestyle will be far less painful than acquiring one like mine. Nothing like 9 months of pregnancy, 36 hours of labor and a C-section to kill one’s happening lifestyle.
Do you have a schedule or specific goals about what you’re going to do or where you’re going to go for the next 4 weeks? Start there — not painful at all.
/mother-ish nagging
Maybe I’ll switch the mother-ish nagging tag back on. Here’s your question, after responding which pen you’d choose:
If you were going to sit down and write something with a fountain pen, what would you write?
edit: question directed at FirePups; I think TRex answered the question already, he’ll be writing a poison pen letter to Ms. Malkkkin. ;-)
the Lamy pen is pretty good, TRex. i’ve never tried the Kaweco so i don’t know if it’s better or not. i’m guessing that Dickens used a nib on a wooden holder, but i’m not sure when the fountain pen came into use.
Teddy, i’m a lefty too. i still like pens and just raise the palm of my hand a little.
Rayne @ 53
I do all my work at the radio station with a fountain pen. I take notes in meetings with one. And sometimes I will sit down and write a letter. I used to do that all the time, but email has pretty much wiped out that hobby.
My friend Poppy used to get these whopping 36 page letters that it would take me a month to write. She always said I should write an epistolary novel.
FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 50
to this day i do not understand the lyrics to that song. i’ve never seen them in print though. would that help?
Agh! What am I doing? It’s after midnight, told the spouse I’d hit the hay earlier tonight. Oops.
Outta’ here. Can’t wait to see what you’re going to write with that sleek fountain pen.
edit: TREX!!! An epistolary novel?? GENIUS!!! You already do that in abbreviated form whenever you blog. Do it!!!
i wonder if anyone’s done a study on the sex lives of bloggers …….
fahrender @ 58
Pfffffffft.
It’d be a short one.
Here’s a little eye candy for the pen lovers hanging around the lake tonight.
Happy kundalini-ing Rayne!
yay for Mrs. K8!
or the work lives, speaking of which, i have to go now.
happy writing, TRex. You’ve grown in leaps and bounds these past few months (an even larger therapod !)
Way off topic here, but seeking advice. It looks like I will need to return to the US in April for an indeterminate amount of time. I have no health insurance there and am looking for major medical that doesn’t cost a fortune. Some places have a 240 day noncoverage for many conditions plus incredibly high premiums for even a 10,000 deductible. If anyone has some leads for me, I’d appreciate hearing them. Thanks in advance.
fahrender @ 63
Sorry, I got entranced at YouTube by a shiny object. To answer your earlier question, reading the lyrics doesnt help much. Good night!
burnspbesq @
60
There was supposed to be a picture here. It showed up in preview, but somehow was snatched away when I submitted the comment. Sorry.
burnspbesq
you have to provide a link to the picture. can’t put pictures actually in the comment
NZ Expat
what state?
Suzanne @ 67
but you can paint a picture with words
Going back to Kansas. Going to be sitting where my rep is Democrat Nancy Boyda, no longer Jim Ryun-R. Big smile on that one.
WAPO
The tiger eye would be a nice home pen and the blue would travel. What do you think? Wouldn’t the tiger eye glow mellowly by the firelight just so? The blue reflect the glints of sunlight through a first class cabin?
Bleah. It’s like my mom says. Expensive tastes. plus artist’s disposition equals Lifetime of Yearning.
can’t say that writing with a fountain pen did much for my penmanship back in college when I tried it, but then again I got my only “D” in elementary school in that
As a left-handed classical music composer, I came to hate fountain pens. Before 1989, our craft demanded we write out our manuscripts with fountain pen. Score and part writing was a lot like drafting.
Right-handed people place their hand below where they write, so your hand drags along the paper through yet unburdened territory. But left-handed writers tend to drag their hand over what thy’ve just written. One can be trained to write above or below the writing area as a left-hander, but you sacrifice speed for it.
That, combined with having my left hand crushed in a boat salvage accident in 1981, got me into computer-based notational programs as soon as they became sophisticated enough to use.
I don’t miss using fountain pens, but still think they’re way cool.
TRex @ 72
my mom would call that “champagne tastes on a beer budget” – grew up with that term the stock answer to my shopping yearnings
lectric lady @
18
Actually the real “in your face” was that they also won the COUNTRY ALBUM OF THE YEAR…voting for which was restricted to journalists, critics, producers and artists within the Country Music Genre!
My mom always told me that when I got a job, I could buy whatever I want. I was, like, “Mom. I’m three. What are they going to hire me to do?”
Get thee to Farney’s Pens on F street in DC.
http://www.fahrneyspens.com/index.aspx
This one is my precious
I wish I’d listened to what my mother told me.
Eli Rabett @ 78
Waterman nibs are really the best. Only Sailor comes close.
I kind of wish Waterman would get more bold and adventurous with their designs, though. So many of their pens look like Executive Gifts.
I bet the selection is better overseas.
OT for the lawyers: I’ve just read Fitz’s and Wells’ latest motions on Andrea Mitchell, and I have a “Law & Order” type question: Why can’t the judge just hold an evidenciary hearing with the jury out of the room to let Andrea Mitchell say, under oath, that she didn’t know about Plame prior to the Novak article? Fitz seems to be saying that her lawyers have already told us that that’s what she would say. Wells says that he wants to hear it from Mitchell herself, under oath.
The Wells brief is pretty poorly written, but for understandable reasons, I think. He wants to know if Mitchell heard a “rumor” about Plame, which sounds absurd at first (”Oh my Gawd! I heard that Valerie is, like, totally an undercover CIA agent! Cha!”), but then you realize that Armitage has characterized his statements about Plame as “gossip”, so you can see where he’s going with this.
On balance, I tend to side with Wells here, though for somewhat snarky reasons. I agree with him that you can believe someone’s lawyer when they tell you that their client isn’t a bald-faced liar. I wouldn’t let Libby or Rove off on those grounds, so I don’t see why Mitchell should get a pass here. Thoughts?
lovely fountain pens go well with designing and binding one’s own journal.
once you’ve made a book of your own, you will never buy one again.
there are so many paper choices out there, but, if you want to get waay into it, you can make your own paper.
lastly, you will have to stitch up a little pouch for the ink pen and your book.
Ed*ard Teller @ 74
Ed*ard: what do you generally compose for? Orchestral, vocal, etcetera? Just curious, as I’m an orchestral musician.
It’s funny, when I occasionally give young music students hand-written music, they often can’t read it. They’re so used to seeing everything printed in Finale or similar programs, they can’t read a simple set of scales I hand-notated years ago. I’m certainly not a skilled music copyist (an art that must be disappearing quicker than that of the fountain pen writers), but my notation is completely legible. I wonder what will happen 10 years from now, when young music school grads will be asked to play operas or shows and be completely unable to read some of the parts I sometimes struggle with in the dimly lit orchestral pit.
TRex:
You got an address, I have a nice pen for you. Do you have access to my email address? I love your work and would love to donate a nice pen to the cause.
Can I send it to Fire Dog Lake in LA?
FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 22
They basically won 6 Grammys tonight – five for their work, and one for their producer’s work on their album.
But, don’t expect the wingnuts to get excited. They started a smear campaign last week, stating that “the Grammy voters are all really far lefty liberals, so they’ll probably vote for the Dixie Chicks just to make a political statement.”
LandOfTheFree @ 85
Tell you what… fuck `em all. (!)
Well look at the musicians who vote Republican – talent left those with the fascist mind set a long time ago. The NOOOGE! Puh-leeeze!
kitt @
24
Got that right. And I’m sure you all grasp the significance of my headline….
Anna Nicole Smith: Still Dead!
FiniFiniTOOBZ! @ 87
Actually, you’d be surprised. I know a lot of very talented musicians who are Republicans. And they aren’t wealthy musicians, either. Music and art can transcend politics. (In fact, I prefer to keep my music as un-political as possible. It’s easy to do that when you’re focus is art music – the art is the most important message, and it doesn’t need to be politicised.
LandOfTheFree @ 89
And, yet, that’s precisely what the no-talents on the right have been doing–and are doing with the comments you related above.
Remember degenerate art?
TRex, a good pen (not to mention good writing) merits good paper. I can’t vouch for this personally, because I rarely write longhand. But many of my author friends swear by Clairefontaine notebooks and journals. It’s practically a cult, especially for those who write entire books by hand. No scratchiness, they tell me, just smooth, easy-on-the-hand inscription.
Here’s one site to check out. Oh, and I like the tiger-eye pen.
http://www.exaclair.com/brands…..aine.shtml
Land of the Free @ #83,
Just finishing up a set of songs about winter for soprano, violin, clarinet and piano. They’ll premiere in three weeks in Anchorage. I usually write solo and chamber music, but have written four symphonies, a piano concerto and a tone poem for larger ensembles. I also perform on keyboard, trombone, tuba, euphonium, tenor tuba, trumpet and bugle. What do you play?
I always make my composition students begin their score writing by hand, giving them Gardner Reed’s _Notation_ as a guide. Then they’re ready for computers. The last part I wrote out in hand was four years ago – the trombone part to Stravinsky’s “Octet.” The trombone player had lost his part, and there were so many time sig changes, it was faster to do it by hand than by Finale. I used a #1 pencil.
OT Put USA Today predicts that Wells will lead off tomorrow with a panoplay of journalists.
“By Richard Willing, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Lawyers for Lewis “Scooter” Libby are scheduled to begin their case Monday by calling a brace of high-profile journalists to give testimony they hope will clear Libby of perjury and obstruction charges.
Among those likely to be called, according to court transcripts: NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, Bob Woodward of The Washington Post, Evan Thomas of Newsweek and Jill Abramson, managing editor of The New York Times.”
Talk about giving meat to Fitz!
He’ll simply point out that just because a dog doesn’t bite SOME visitors, the fact that others say that he bit them is probative that you have a mean dog!
And he’ll also be given the opportunity to explore whether Libby or others in the Administration told Mitchell to assert that other reporters already knew Plame’s identity…AND that she, IN FACT, didn’t know about Plame herself until the Novak column.
Then he’ll promptly go after Woodward…another stool of the Administration…who was “bought” by the opportunity to have inside access to ALL the manipulators in the WH! Should be interesting if Fitz gets to explore the specifics of the Armitage revelation. Note that Fitz asked Libby if he had discussed Wilson or Plame specifically on June 6th…wonder why? We know Fitz already knew that Armitage leaked to Novak…but the wingbats forget that Armitage had to get THAT info from somewhere! And if Armitage “cooperated” then Fitz also knows that source!
And we don’t really know whether Armitage actually testified to Fitz about the revelation being “accidental”. Yes…Armitage told Grossman THAT…but he could have been covering his tail to avoid retaliation. And remember that Fitz’s interrogations can be brutal psychologically. Novak got a lot of DETAIL from Armitage about “Wilson’s wife”…including her CPD work and the fact that she was an “operative”.
He may have already told Fitz about Woodward…if he didn’t and told Fitz that his chat with Novak was accidental and only happened once…well the Woodward information would suggest that he LIED. Repeated discussions about “Wilsons’ wife in the CPD” would constitute evidence that the leak wasn’t an accident but intentional. Indeed it would appear he covered it up.
So either Fitz already knew – and Armitage has been giving a different story to the public- or Fitz would have Armitage by the short hairs. So it will be interesting what Woodward says….and why he didn’t approach Fitz with this so-called “exonerating evidence” (which actually isn’t).
And I suspect that Jill Abramson won’t help Libby’s case at all. And ditto Evan Thomas. These are simply cases of a dog not biting (or Judy not revealing)!
LandOfTheFree @ 89
Oh I know that, I’ve been around musicians my whole life. I was going for teh funny. I still pound aimlessly away on my synths for musical therapy purposes. I write instrumental, soundscape kind of things. Tangerine Dream and Brian Eno are huge influences.
My brother is a guitarist that used to vote Republican until the Cheney Administration came to power. We used to go round and round, but over the years his views softened and I abandoned the unreasonable planks in my platform. We both love that Dixie Chicks album BECAUSE of the flying fuck you it is to the Clear Channel/WalMart crowd that has ruined the music biz.
Mrs. K8 – Thanks for sharing your wonderful news. Warm thoughts and blessings coming to you.
Back in my Convent School Days — same order that educated Nancy Pelosi and at about the same time, we were required to have three Fountain Pens, one for black ink, one for green and one for blue. In those days it was not ink in a cartridge, it was ink in a bottle, and the pen had a little blatter that drew up the ink, and then allowed it to flow out. Only the Nuns who corrected papers were allowed a pen that was for red ink, though in the classroom, all four inks were available in large glass bottles.
Pencils were for math or where you might need to eliminate a mistake. All classrooms had ink eridicator, which was something like bleach that might or might not eliminate an inked mistake. Ball point — well that was totally outside the bounds. Writing up an invoice or something like that — never for something learned.
Esterbrook Pens cost in those days about $1.95, and you could get new screw in pen points. For 25 cents you could get a new blatter, if you had to change ink color.
The Convent School child of the 1950’s (when Nancy was being educated) had three bottles of ink on her desk, Black, Green and Blue — three pens, and in the drawer, a few extra blatters. You drafted in pencil (#2 Pencil) on newspaper quality paper, and then you checked your work, and then you copied on to bond paper with the proper pen.
I wish I had saved all my Esterbrooks and the blatters that went with them.
I’m off to eat something then bedtime for fini. Gnight all!
Frank Probst @ 81
Well if Mitchell has said that she LATER heard a rumor that “many journalists knew” that would be hearsay.
But if she asserts that she was told BEFORE the Novak revelation this information…then it wouldn’t be hearsay. She would have had to have been told by someone. But you are right…this could likely be settled by simply having an evidentiary hearing outside the hearing of the jury regarding Mitchell’s knowledge.
But I can see Fitz’s point that if you allow hearsay like this it could metastatize to all sorts of claimants that they “heard rumors” being placed before the jury in a wildly expanding fishing expedition.
LandOfTheFree @ 89
I don’t.
One of the main reasons so-called “classical” music is wilting is because it has no immediacy, no stake in the hard choices people have to make. Between proposing an orchestral work and performance, a composer has to jump through dozens of hoops over a period of about two or more years put there to make sure nobody’s endowment is going to jeopordized by politics. Ask John Adams how fun it is for him to perform the choruses from “Klinghoffer” these days.
Ed*ard Teller @ 92
Wow – you’re a talented person! The crushed left hand doesn’t stop you from playing piano? That’s fantastic. I can’t imagine how annoying it would be to compose without being able to play into the synthesizer.
I’m an oboist (but I’m a nice sane one, really).
That’s great that you’re making your students learn proper manuscript writing. I’ve started giving more of my students handwritten music, and sometimes show them the parts from operas or musicals to help them understand that only recently do we put the music in the computer and have it separate parts, transpose, and print for us.
The last major manuscript writing I did was an orchestration of something or other in college… before computer notation programs were really available. I have Finale (taught myself, so I’m not that great at it… I can do some small arrangements or compositions on it without much trouble, and I’m working on an etude book right now).
I wish I could write words by hand as nicely as I can do music manuscript. I would be very dangerous with TRex’s beautiful fountain pens. I tend to drag my pencil/pen, and my writing is rather close to illegible. I need a fine-tip or ultra fine-tip pen to have a chance at writing well. And don’t ask me to write in cursive – that’s an art that really is disappearing thanks to computers, huh?
LandOfTheFree @
85
FUCKIN A. If that wasn’t a NARAS “Fuck you” to middle America, I don’t know what is.
FUCK YOU MIDDLE AMERICA. FUCK YOUR OSAMA-LIKE FUNDAMENTALISM.
Dixie Chicks ROCK!
On my desk I still have my 3rd grade fountain pen, an Esterbrook – needs a new bladder (me too). And no, the nuns wouldn’t let us keep the ink bottles in the hole in the top of our desks. The bottles were designed to fit in them. Too many ink dipped pigtails in the distant past, I guess.
Everything wonderful for writers and readers at levenger.com
Eli Rabett @
78
Eli, I have one of those that I never use. It’s a sweet writer, but it’s just too heavy for me. I would gladly sell it to a fellow firepup — or, even better, give it to you in exchange for your promise to donate an agreed-upon sum to support FDL. Email me if you’re interested: burnspbesq AT earthlink DOT net
TRex:
I hear ya! I haven’t been traveling much lately, so I’ve been getting through The Republican War on Science a few pages at a time while I’m in waiting rooms and such. It bugs me that I’m not getting through many books because I’m spending all my time reading, you know?
Rayne @
36
This almost precisely parallels the Plame incident…one publically outed and the other “buried” and then “fired”.
I wonder if this individual can be called to give testimony before the SSIC regarding the Intelligence that was manipulated. Closed session with selected extracts publicly revealed…it seems perfectly appropriate to the Feith investigation!
Mrs. K8, I’m so happy for you!
Ed*ard Teller, I don’t know if I told you this, but when I was about 5 I saw Stravinsky conduct something he’d written at the Santa Fe Opera. I remember nothing about it except it was impressed on me that this was A Big Deal.
Fountain pens were a fad when I was in middle shcool. Being a southpaw, all they did for me was to mess up a whole bunch of english papers and ruin a few shirts.
I have three lovely Esterbrooks, a blue, a green, and a copper, all medium points.
Ed*ard Teller @ 99
That’s a pretty amazing story you linked to.
To me, it seems that any musician should have the right to give their music a political message (or choose not to). When people stop looking at the art and get bogged down in the politics is where there are problems – precisely as noted in the story you linked to (your compsoition, I presume?) If people are so closed-minded and poltiically motivated that they are unwilling to hear a piece of music with a different point of view, or view an art exhibit because it might “offend” someone, then everything is out of whack. The politics overshadows and destroys the message being crafted by the artist. And, the true reason for the art is lost – to educate, to inspire, to cause people to think. By censoring the art, they are censoring people’s right to be educated, inspired, and to think for themselves.
Last year, I performed a work by Karl Jenkins called “The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace“. This was performed in a relatively conservative area of town. There was a bit of concern about how this anti-war piece might be received by the community. There are many photos shown in slides above the choir and orchestra, many depicting war scenes. Early in the mass, an Imam (from a local mosque) was to sing the Muslim “Call to Prayer”. Apparently, some people involved in the production were very concerned that the Imam’s chant was provocative. I found this incredulous. How a chant that is used to call people to pray could be viewed as “offensive” is astonishing to me. I never would have even thought of this as an issue.
Fortunately, the organization decided to continue as the composer wrote it. And, the audience seemed to be moved by the entirety of the performance. Because the performance wasn’t censored by the hand-wringers, the art and the message were delivered, and it was up to the audience to decide how to interpret it and react to it.
So, when I say my art should be non-politicized, I don’t mean it should be censored to be devoid of any political message. Making my personal policial statement through music is not my goal, though I fully support artists who do choose to do so. I’m an artist offering art for the listener to interpret for themselves… which is probably what most of us try to do.
If only people could have more respect for their audiences, to realize that they can discern and decide for themselves without political censorhip.
Oh yeah… wasn’t this thread about pens? Sorry about the hijack on music, TRex!
Oh, and definitely the blue. The tigereye is nice, but you have to go with what grabs you.
This is a must read by Larry Johnson regarding Doug Feith’s attempted revision this morning.
I know well the woes of left-handed smudgery
Ed*ard Teller @ 99
I am after a different kind of immediacy. I prefer to play music rather than listen. I most prefer to make music in an ensemble.
Music literacy was as common in the past as reading. In the 17th century, the barbershop had a rack of instruments (citterns, rebecs, lutes, etc) instead of National Geographics (do barbershops still stock National Geographics?).
As you know, ET and LotF, there is nothing in this world that compares to making music with friends. I am sad that I rarely hear any garage bands anymore. I never fail to stop and listen to anyone singing or practicing any music on any instrument with any level of skill. They have my blessings.
I was sorry to discover that the Iraq National Symphony Orchestra has apparently disbanded. That was a group made up of men and women, Sunnni, Shia, Christians, Jews. All working together in (hopefully) perfect harmony (and rhythm). Their music library had been burned in the looting in Baghdad. Many instruments were stolen or destroyed. Their harpsichord was dropped to its death.
Loaned a harpsichord to Friendly Rich and the Lollipop People last night. Instruments on stage included a concert harp, string bass, banjo, accordian, bassoon, drums, toy piano, melodicon, trombone, clarinet and bass clarinet, and the harpsichord.
The ensemble is terrific and strange. The problem was the venue’s sound man. He only had ears for “cock-rock” and had no idea of balance. It was too loud and badly distorted.
There was about 400,000 dollars of college tuition represented on that stage and their music was under the control of an idiot with no musical sense at all.
multiple rants, sorry.
rant we all, just get along
punaise @ 113
do we do strange things typing too?
hpschd @ # 114,
Sad about the Iraqi SO. That is such a magnificent instrument you’ve created for them.
LandofTheFree @ #110,
Great story about the Mass for Peace. When the Anchorage Community Chorus did Britten’s ‘War Requiem” in 2004, they had to profusely apologize, explaining that it had been in planning for years.
BTW, TRex is at least as good a musician as you or I.
punaise @ 115
Isn’t that what The Hartford Cou-rant said about Lieberman?
montag @ 117
Or a old episode of Scooby Doo.
God, when will I learn that preview is my friend.
Ed*ard Teller @ 116
He’s good…But he’s no Le Petomane, ET.
;>)
hpschd said:
I was sorry to discover that the Iraq National Symphony Orchestra has apparently disbanded. That was a group made up of men and women, Sunnni, Shia, Christians, Jews. All working together in (hopefully) perfect harmony (and rhythm).
hpschd is modest in the way he relates this story. His shop creates some of the best harpsichords on this planet. They’ve built an instrument for, as he puts it, another example of what might have happened had not our country’s Iraqi policy been determined since a while ago by incompetents and traitors.
Give me a Parker Jotter.
I am hopelessly middle class.
darkblack @ 119
ROFL
Be careful, or I’ll find a way for you to have to testify about that in front of Rohrbacher…
or worse – behind rohrbacher.
Patrick 4/4 @ 121
I am Bic, pentameter
Ed*ard Teller @ 116
We need to create the FDL Band/Orchestra – I can play continuo.
Figured bass parts are easier for the writer’s cramped, left handed, fountain pen smudgers.
Further Adventures in Reading the New York Times: In 2 parts. I’ll post this now and probably in the morning.
An article entitled “U.S. Says Arms Link Iranians to Iraqi Shiites” by James Glanz with contributors including Michael Gordon who wrote a perfectly abysmal piece on the same subject corrects some of the more blatant bias of that previous article but still leaves important questions unanswered.
The improvements begin with the title. The title of Gordon’s article was “Deadliest Bomb in Iraq Is Made by Iran, U.S. Says”. By putting the “US says” at the end, it left the clear impression that a fact rather than an allegation was being made.
This article questions the need for the anonymity of those giving the briefing and the disclosure of material, some of which has been known for more than 2 years, at a time when the Bush Administration has increased its saber-rattling. It also points out that the charge that al Quds (elite Revolutionary Guards) is an inference and that the accusation that this implies that the highest levels of the Iranian government are involved is itself an inference based on an inference. Finally, it gives more details about the physical evidence (which was displayed on a table) and about the Erbil raid where Iranians were captured.
So now the critique. While the question of anonymity of sources was raised, it really wasn’t answered. Glanz writes:
I am not sure how necessary the contribution of a “senior Defense Department analyst” really was to the briefing. And it fails to explain why the “senior United States military official” or the others needed theirs.
Despite the occasional expressions of skepticism, the New York Times reporters were nevertheless dutifully impressed by a presentation which was in essence a dog and pony show: “the direct physical evidence presented on Sunday was extraordinary.” Among the material on exhibit were mortar shells and RPGs with Iranian serial numbers. Only one of the improved IEDs, an explosively formed penetrator or EFP, was on display. Conspicuously absent was any mention that it bore any identifying number. Instead a kind of argument by omission was given:
So if you have no evidence, then that must prove it. Must remember that the next time I get into an argument. I might even reference the New York Times.
The article also includes the new assertion that EFPs have killed 170 Americans and wounded 620 since June 2004. The previous number in the Gordon article was around 25% of deaths in the last 3 months of 2006. I figured this was around 70. For his part, Juan Cole heaped a lot of derision on the 25% figure in his February 11 comments at his site, pointing out that most of the attacks and casualties during this period took place in Sunni areas. It is always suspicious when someone trots out an unsubstantiated number and when it is challenged instead of justifying it another unsubstantiated number is brought out in its place.
Further Adventures Part 2
While more information was given about the Erbil raid, there was still no indication that the Iranian office raided was, in fact, an informal consulate that was known to and sanctioned by Kurdish authorities. As for the Baghdad raid, it was related that a high official from al Quds Mohsin Chizari (described as their No. 2 man whatever that means) was picked up. He was found to be carrying false identification yet for some reason the article goes on to say he was released. I wonder why. Could it be because he was traveling under diplomatic immunity, his presence in Baghdad was known to Iraqi authorities, and his arrest caused them considerable embarrassment? Also missing from the article was that Mr. Chizari was arrested inside the Green Zone in what has been described as the compound of Abdul Aziz al Hakim, the leader of the SCIRI party which is both an American ally (al Hakim you may remember visited Bush in the White House a few months ago) and has the closest ties of any party to the Iranians, but which was more specifically the home of Hadi al Ameri, chairman of the security committee in the parliament and head of the Badr Brigades, the SCIRI militia. Given these connections, you might begin to see why Chizari was there.
Now as I said above, this article is an improvement on Gordon’s. Of course, almost anything would be. It includes more doubts and does a better job of addressing the political dimension of this presentation of the “Iranian case”. Yet in a very fundamental way, it still refuses to acknowledge a simple truth. Our government didn’t make its case. As I wrote in my analysis of the Gordon article, I would be unsurprised if Iran was involved in various ways in Iraq, including the transfer of some relatively specific and limited weapons and technology to some Iraqi Shia groups. But so far the government has only shown that smuggling occurs across the border between Iraq and Iran. Smuggling occurs across all of Iraq’s borders. Beyond that, the government has done no more than what I have done. It has made inferences. Inference is not proof.
More importantly, neither our government nor the New York Times has made any attempt to evaluate the threat level all this poses relative to the other threats our soldiers face in Iraq. First, while a few thousand jihadis still remain on the Sunni Arab side, there has never been any indication that there have ever been more than a few handfuls of Iranians operating in Iraq. Second, as I have pointed out elsewhere, the 1000th American combat death did not occur until September 7, 2004. This is a few months after the Pentagon began its count that produced their number of 170 (and again given its history with fiddling with the numbers, this figure has to be taken with a certain amount of skepticism). Since then, more than 2100 Americans have died in Iraq, and the 170 mentioned in the Times article represent just 8% of those. While 8% is a significant number, the Pentagon is clearly exaggerating this threat when you take into account that 92% of Americans killed in Iraq are killed elsewhere. And while I think it is perfectly legitimate to discuss Iranian influence and activities in Iraq, I think this is true of others as well. Many of the jihadis early on were Saudis, Jordanians, and Egyptians, all ostensibly our allies. The Saudis also allowed a fair amount of money from “private citizens” to go to the insurgency and this has probably led to many more than 170 American deaths. Yet the silence on this issue from the government and the media remains deafening. I also wonder what it would take for the Times to recognize saber-rattling or a drumbeat for war for what they are. Instead they can muster no more than “some Democrats say this” and “some Republicans say that”. This is better than an unattributed repetition of Administration talking points but it is still a far cry from a major news organization giving us the news, not as others see it, but as they see it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02…..r=homepage
Ed*ard Teller @ 122
‘All the black bean burritos with salsa verde you can eat’…I want to see flying toupees here.
;>)
Don Henley and Scarlett Johanssen on the Grammys.
Ironically, they’re both too old for each other.
I just went over to HotAir to see what I could contribute, but registration there is closed…
Patrick 4/4 @ 128
let the Eagle sore
nice work, Hugh
hpschd @ 124
Spent some time this evening with my son, going through the chord progressions of Gershwin’s “A Foggy Day.” He’d heard it and wanted to look at it.
Only instrument I play that would go well with continuo is alto recorder. I’ve transcribed Vivaldi’s cello sonatas for tuba or euphonium and continuo. When I did it, rather than using published realizations, I listened to Thurston Dart doing some Bach cantata continuo playing, using his approach to chord realization rather than the published realizations for the Vivaldi sonatas. Learned a lot.
Patrick 4/4 @ 128
ROFL – best comment of the night…
a comment from Mike Stark’s “Draft gore” diary at DKos:
HUGH!!!
Is there a way to get Glanz and Gordon in a civil suit under which they have to show their tax returns since before the war started? I’d like to see Judy Miller’s tax returns too. Or are they actually making this shit up for free?
punaise @ 134
So the climate IS changing, eh punaise?
Ed*ard Teller @ 136
Lord, there are too many good Dems running. Settling for second or third choices is still head and shoulders above what the other side is putting up.
I can’t believe my luck.
Ed*ard Teller @ 136
I thawed so
If FDL Band/Orchestra forms, I’m calling dibs on a front row center seat. I do audience very well.
Nite all.
Ed*ard Teller @ 132
20 some years ago, my son was learning clarinet. My happiest memmories of that time are playing duets together, clarinet and piano.
We’re building a clavichord for a rock group. It will be strung in steel (as opposed to the traditional brass). The other choice was to run an electric current through the brass wires – but they warm up and go flat :(
We will mount guitar pickups – we call it “Revenge of the 16th century”.
Clavichord and bagpipes anyone?
Another lefty here. I stopped being particular about pens when i got into retail pharmacy. We get a lot of good fountain and ballpoints. But they all end up used up in a hurry, lost or broken altogether too fast. I go from no smudges to lots of them and a bluish/black pinky finger depending on the day’s volume. Call it an employment hazard. *grins and yawns*
They tend to come from agents bearing knowledge for the Pharmacist. We techs lay waste to the notepads and pens they like to drop off at the time too. *evil grin*
hpschd @ 140
At least bagpipes stay in tune. But I do imagine bagpipes and steel-stringed clavichords might go well with TRex’s dinosaur farts. Key of F.
Ed*ard Teller @ 142
But the embouchure is a bitch…
Patrick 4/4 @ 143
A special kind of pucker, those pipes. Where’d LandofTheFree go? He’s an oboe player. Easy conversion to the pipes. If he’s willing to give up all the rest of his friends.
I wasn’t talking about the bagpipes…
Patrick 4/4 @
145
Danny Kaye in the movie The Secret Life of Walter Mitty sang: “And the oboe it is clearly understood / Is an ill wind that no one blows good.”
That said there are more bag pipe jokes than oboe jokes.
darkblack @
119
There’s a contemporary performing flatulist or “Fartiste” – Mr. Methane
No doubt, Dubya is a fan.
hpschd @
147
Or may want for one – Perhaps even a book…of truckstop matches.
Sic semper peditum
;>)
TRex @
59
Especially if it’s about Jeff Goldstein’s. A REAL short one. Slender as a needle, too.
Isn’t it funny how most fine pen websites are just about the ugliest sites around?…
Tiger eye.
darkblack @ 148
Flemish harpsichords often have latin sayings printed on the inside of the lid –
May I quote you?
hpschd @
151
What…My rude Latin?
We may not know what might come to pass but certainly, if you wish.
Libby Believes NBC News Could Clear Him
Presumably from Comstock via the always unreliable AP via the WaPo:
Mornin’.
Anybody got coffee?
No one in her right mind would create a new post before breakfast, but I specifically claim not to be in my right mind.
TRex—I hope you find pen happiness. Next: the search for the best colored pencils, which I use in place of normal pencils for puzzles. Much more visually stimulating. So far I have a crush on the Faber-Castell ones with the little dots. They are completely silent, unlike regular pencils.
Good morning, egregious. Coffee and tea are right over there, and bagels too.
Today in the NYT we have Bob Herbert on Barack Obama and the lunacy of the current war, and Paul Krugman on the lunacy of the coming {oh, Lord, I hope not) war.
http://mgpaquin.blogspot.com/
I’m feeling suspiciously perky for a Monday morning… Something’s amiss…
Kaffee is perkin’, egregious. Tho it’s midday here. Sorry you’re having phone probs, but you’ll ride through.
Imus this am: Dixie Chicks talk so stupid. Huh?
Many, many thanks to watertiger for the right on comparison of Imus to a dried apple head. Priceless. Never again will I see him without that image in my head.
TRex… Wouldn’t have thunk that a 60′ therapod would suffer from pen envy!
Morning egregious… Great post. It’s so nice to know I’m not the only compulsive ‘fixer’ in the world. I sure wish I could fix my insomnia though. In fact it’s 4am so I think I’ll go work on finding a functional solution to my sleep issues for a little while before seeing what can be done about my lumpy pillows. :)
By the way, don’t know how many here remember Kimmy Cash (Punx for Dean) from the primaries last go-around, but she just had a baby. I’ve got a picture posted on the front page here.
http://howardempowered.blogspot.com
Mornin’ pups. I’m in depositions all day today, so I’m gonna miss all the live blogging. thank heaven it will be waiting for me tonight.
Hugs and kisses to the fast fingers on the keyboard today!
TRex, do you have any idea how many pens you’ve sold for this company? You just gotta luv a good fountain pen.
Let’s not let them run with this stuff unanswered.
It’s really ramping up y’all and we must not let this happen again!
All this B.S. about Iranian bombs killing US troops is a PR campaign designed to drum up support for an attack on Iran. Paging Judy Judy Judy!
Of course most here know that, but here’s some proof…
http://cernigsnewshog.blogspot…..-this.html
Anonymous “officials” talking about the bomb’s tailfin being proof of Iranian manufacture, but funny thing, the pictures they supply the press are cut off right at the tailfin
Oh, and the writing is in English, which would be very unusual for Iran.
Glen Greenwald has some good stuff about this also.
Mornin’ all!
Bombs kill at least 80 people in Iraq
Nate @ 158
If we’re such smart, driven people, how come we can’t solve our own problems? :)
Maybe it’s more fun to work on the other stuff. But I try.
Do you wake up and start thinking about all kinds of things, then can’t go back to sleep? That would be me at dark thirty these days. Pretty weird, used to be one who enjoyed sleeping in.
Hi TRex. I think I’d go with the tigereyed pen. What make are they?
skank @ 166
Kaweco
I want to thank this fahrender person who told me to shut up, for reminding me how unacceptable and useless I am as a human being. It’s funny that I’ve read so much on this blog about what a caring community FDL is, how supportive of people like me who take the injustices of life to heart and cry and ache about them.
It’s funny since that’s what brought me here. Thoughtful discussion with intelligent, sensitive people. But it’s not for me, as are many things that come so naturally to other human beings of normal persuasion.
It is good to be reminded of the negative, unacceptable social consequence of one’s illness in order to put things into perspective. Sending out tears into cyberspace among people you’ve never seen, boy that is about the dumbest, most pathetic thing.
Human beings, by nature, enjoy seeing others fail and be humiliated. Not that we want to acknowledge that but it’s true.
So it’s fitting that I chuck the internet and cable TV and all those things that remind me of what a heartbreak this life is for others since it affects me personally. The thing that makes me odd, so unacceptable, is the obsession I have with the injustices that plague our society, that it makes me rather unsavory to be around at times, since I want to talk about them, instead of things like shopping and pedicures.
Again, how ironic, that I came to a place like this to seek relief, to perhaps feel a little less odd. And yet, here, it is the same. Not shallow, just another place where I do not belong.
72462 at 5:03 am
Normally, I find myself in very strong agreement with fahrender’s comments. I also could find no comment above your 5:03 from 72462. Is this on a different thread?
Morning kids — fresh thready goodness, up and ready for the reading.
Andrea Mitchell on Imus, declining to answer anything about Scooter.
72462—
Wo. I missed all of this. For the most part FDL is a caring community, we have spent a lot of time and trouble making it so.
Please don’t take a single person’s hasty comment as being reflective of the lake as a whole.
72462—Sending out tears into cyberspace among people you’ve never seen, boy that is about the dumbest, most pathetic thing.
Well then I’m dumb and pathetic nearly every day. If you’re a frequent reader here you will come across my bipolar/ADHD/OCD rants. It’s the good, the bad, and the ugly, and people here have been so wonderful in response.
I don’t know if you are dealing with the physical or the mental, but my humble blog deals with the intersection of political angst and mental illness. Come on over and tell us what’s on your mind.
I just got The Peanut to preschool, poured myself my first cuppa coffee, got a new thread up for everyone and am cooking breakfast for me and Mr. ReddHedd. Sat down to peer through the late nite thread and find some sort of personal discord. Please, for the love of all that is holy, let’s not start the week with some sort of petty nastiness. Be kind to each other, people. I have to sleep sometimes, and so do the mods, and being snipey with each other just makes that more difficult for all of us.
No name calling. No mean malarky. None. It’s Monday, the defense case starts today, and it’s going to be another long slog through post management and server issues and high traffic and whatnot. And I am exhausted from managing all of this. So, here it goes: I do not care who started it. I do not care who got in the middle of it. It stops here, and does not continue to other threads. Let’s try to be more thoughtful, more tolerant, and more kind from here forward. Don’t make me take out my angry eyes…
punaise @
31
i used Rapidograph pens and K&E lettering templates – was technical illustrator at National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville drawing the first graphs by those whacked out scientists. – one thought rolling around there -> black holes and quasars are the exit and entrance from a parallel universe.
72462 @
168
I saw that fahrender posted an apololgy to someone (I believe to you). I beleive it was yesterday, possibly on the first thread of the morning. Sorry I don’t have it at hand to cite it to you.
Thanks jayt.
fwiw, fahrender did apologize at 15 on the Sunday head thread.
Dear 72462,
I read fahrender’s comment on Pach’s Valentine thread long after everyone had left and thought it was out of line. S/he did apologize the next morning, comment 15 on the Talking Heads thread. FWIW. Also my 41.
In my experience, this is a caring community, but your mileage seems to have varied. I think that one comment from one person, however assholey and ill-timed, isn’t the total of FDL, and probably not even of that person, either.
I feel kind of awkward giving you a hug, since the hug is virtual and the hurt was real, but anyway
{{{{{{{{{ Group Capt. Lionel }}}}}}}}}
mandrake, fwiw, once you change your pseudonym, you lose your FDL history. I recognize mandrake, I did not recognize 72462.
Again fwiw, imho, if you can’t work stuff out on the thread in which it occurs, it creates more problems imho if you restart it on a later thread. What I’ve seen others do successfully is wait until you see the other commenter on a future thread. Then invite them to dialogue with you at the end of the previous thread. That allows you two to work it out someplace other than the current thread.
If you want a wonderful sketching nib pen for under $3 try the Pilot Varsity, which comes in a variety of colors besides black and is the smoothest writing pen I’ve ever used!