======================================================================== Nib Noise Volume 6 Number 5 ======================================================================== Welcome to Nib Noise. This newsletter is a joint effort of Richard Binder and Don Fluckinger. We hope you'll enjoy reading this month's issue. PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS NEWSLETTER! For comments or questions, send email to: richard@richardspens.com To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit the Free Email Newsletter page on my site: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=nibnoise.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** It's SuperShowTime! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ August is here! And what does that mean? It means Washington, DC, Super Show. Oh, it means Dog Days and other stuff, too, but nothing rates like the Greatest Pen Show On Earth. With the pre-show starting on Thursday, August 9, the show will be open to the public on Saturday and Sunday, August 11 and 12. Washington is one of the world's great tourist cities, so if you have family members who aren't as insane as you are about pens, you can turn them loose at the Falls Church Metro stop and forget them while they see the sights in town. you don't even have to take them there -- that's what hotel shuttles are for! This show is so-o-o big, and so-o-o good, that you may face a legitimate worry about having a panic attack when you walk in the front door of the hotel. Yes, the pen show fills the lobby, too! If you plan to come and haven't ever been to a show before, you might want to read my article on Your First Pen Show: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/firstshow.htm For more information, visit the show's Web site: http://www.pencentral.com/ Barbara and I will be there for the whole show, from the Overture on Thursday afternoon to the final curtain on Sunday. We'll have a good selection of new pens from Bexley, Conway Stewart, Namiki/Pilot, Pelikan, Signum, and Taccia. All will have special low show prices. We'll also have a stock of my preground Pelikan M200 and Namiki/Pilot Vanishing Point specialty nibs, with demonstrators of them all for you to try before you buy. The Pelikan nibs fit M200, M250, M400, and M600 pens, including the M640 Niagara Falls, which is a *lot* prettier in person than in pictures. If you don't have a Pelikan pen to go with your new nib, we'll be happy to fit your nib with a new M200 pen body in your choice of colors. As I've done each year since 2002, I'll be regrinding, tweaking, and repairing nibs. Bring a pen or two, and share some chatter at my table while I jazz up your writing experience. Oh, and please read our "Table Talk" FAQ to learn how we operate at a show: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=tabletalk.htm If you have pens that need repairs other than nib work, we'll be happy to save you some shipping costs by collecting them at the show and bringing them home to the Nashua Pen Spa. We look forward to seeing old friends and meeting new ones. We hope to see you there. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pilot Has a Special Edition for You *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Click! Your pen is ready for use. Click! The nib slips out of sight and the pen's ready to drop into your pocket or purse. Sounds just like the Vanishing Point, and that's what it is. But the Sesenta is special. The word means "sixty" in Spanish, and in Japan -- where the aged are revered for their wisdom -- the age of 60 is considered an important milestone. The Japanese word for a person of 60 years or more is kanreki (written in Kanji to the left), and it is a very auspicious word. This is a limited 400-pen edition that is not officially being offered in the U.S.A., and we've been able to snag only 20 pens. Learn about the Sesenta, and snag one of ours before they're all gone: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sales/newp_nam.htm#sesenta ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Coming to a Site Near You! Oh, Excuse Me, It's Here! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Taccia/Binder Staccato SE should be in our hands before the Washing- ton SuperShow. We have the first sample, and it's quite a delightful pen. It's a fabulous brown marble, but we don't know what the name of the color is. That's your job. We're running contest to choose the name, and if you win the contest you'll also win a Staccato SE. For more information, visit our home page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=main.htm#coming_attractions ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Come to the Richard's Pens Pen Show -- with a SPECIAL ATTRACTION *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Client response to our monthly vintage pen tray has been great, and we're having a ball putting together the selection of pens each month. Well, it's the first of the month again, and there's a new tray there! Check out our vintage pen tray for yourself: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sales/vint_txt.htm AND, for a double-whammy, we've taken a consignment of exquisite modern pens from a trusted client, and you really owe it to yourself to check these pens out -- and choose your favorite before someone beats you to it! Check out our consignment pen tray: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=sales/newp_oth.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Don's Boxes -- Economical and Attractive Cigar Box Pen Chests *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Don Fluckinger has put together a new selection of his economical and artistic pen storage boxes. Check out his classy product here: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=accessories/dons_boxes.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Pens That Write Right! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Unless otherwise requested at the time of sale, I fill-test each new pen at no extra charge before shipment, aligning and smoothing the nib and ensuring that it has good flow. If you order a new pen with a customized nib, I will modify the nib and ship the pen immediately instead of putting it into my regular queue. Remember, we are authorized retailers for Bexley, Conway Stewart, Namiki and Pilot, Pelikan, Signum, and Taccia. We don't always have a complete line up on the site, but we can get anything our manufacturers offer -- if you don't see it, just ask! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** The Wallpaper Place *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ This month we have two brandy-new "fresh off the MacBook" wallpaper designs for you to download. Both are available either as a 1600x1200 "standard" size or a 1600x1000 "cinematic" size. First, to satisfy a request from a friend on the Fountain Pen Network, a new Parker "51" design. Then, because I'm not always a Parker chauvinist, a Sheaffer Snorkel Sovereign -- with a three-tine music nib! Get yours here: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=wallpapers.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Broad Strokes" by Richard Binder ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Feed your fountain pen a steady diet of fountain pen ink. Period. This injunction may seem obvious, but it is not quite so obvious as it appears. Get the straight dope in this month's article on inks: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref_info/inks.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Extra Fine Points" by Don Fluckinger ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Will social networking and fountain pen collecting mix? Come join our group and let's see. http://www.richardspens.com/?page=extrafine/xf0708.htm ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** Subscribe to our RSS Feed *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RSS means Really Simple Syndication. You can subscribe to our RSS feed by clicking the orange RSS button at the top of any page on our site or by plugging the following URI into your browser or RSS reader: http://www.richardspens.com/richardspens.rss If you're not already hooked up to RSS and what it can do for you, take a peek at our introductory page: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=rsshelp.htm ======================================================================== If you received this newsletter from Richard Binder, you are a Nib Noise subscriber. If it came from someone else, I invite you to subscribe. To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit the Free Email Newsletter page on my site: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=nibnoise.htm Note: We will never sell your name or email address. Your privacy is as important to us as it is to you.