Due to venue availability, I've had to move our November meeting to the third FRIDAY of November. The good news is that it's being held at the Oakridge branch of the Vancouver Public Library, a very convenient venue in terms of accessibility to transit and free parking.
Here are the details:
When: FRIDAY November 16, 2018 from 6:00pm - 8:30pm (Don't worry if you're late---we usually start at around 6:30 pm)
Where: the OAKRIDGE branch of the Vancouver Public Library, 650 West 41st Avenue, Vancouver, BC (ie. the "Oakridge-41st Avenue" stop on the Skytrain's "Canada" line).
The entrance to the library is on the outside of Oakridge Mall (on the west side of the Mall, near the fish market). Parking at the mall is free for 3-4 hours. The meeting will take place in the community room---you can't miss it, as it's the only public meeting room at that library branch. No food (except covered drinks) allowed in the library, but there's a nice food fair at Oakridge Mall where you can grab a bite to eat before the meeting.
Theme : A PRESENTATION ON PORSCHE DESIGN (writing instruments & others) by VPCer Ray (who did a nice talk on Montblanc 149/146 writing instruments at our January meeting) + our twice-annual INK SWAP! (full/partial ink bottles, ink cartridges are all fine for trade or for sale). If you don't have any ink to trade/sell, no worries--it's all completely voluntary!
Our secondary topic is always NEWEST ACQUISITIONS (pen-related)---eg. new pens/inks/paper/pen cases/other accessories/etc, so if you have any you wish to show, please bring them with you.
Please note: this is the last meeting of 2018 as we do not meet in December. Meetings will resume in January 2019, at a venue to be announced!
Friday, November 2, 2018
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Fountain Pen Day 2018 (November 2nd) !
Discount codes and promos here!
Thursday, October 18, 2018
September meeting photos
Ten VPC members braved the rainy weather and came to the Terry Salman branch of the VPL for our pen club meeting on September 20th. The miserable weather didn't dampen their enthusiasm, however, and everyone brought some interesting things for our "Open Format" topic.
Without further ado, here are some photos from that meeting, starting with these group shots courtesy of Christopher's phone camera:
Going around the table (clockwise, from lower left): Stuart, Mindy, Alejandra's daughter, Christopher, Rene, Alejandra, Dana, Maja (me), Justin and Jerred
Rene brought in an interesting assortment of pens, both modern and vintage
That's Tony in the upper-left corner...
All in all, an entertaining meeting with a small-but-enthusiastic bunch of VPCers! Thanks to all who attended the meeting :)
Now some pen photos I snapped with my cel camera (apologies for the picture quality)
~Click on images to enlarge~
Christopher's vintage Parker 'Duofold Jr.' fountain pen in the desirable "Mandarin Yellow" colour, and a vintage Waterman fountain pen in highly collectible "Olive Ripple" pattern
A Sheaffer 'Imperial Sovereign', a lovely fountain pen that Christopher found for a bargain price
(L-R) Pelikan M200, four Kaweco 'Sport' pens (including a hard-to-find black and white marbled 'Sport Art' pen) and a Delike 'Alpha Resin' (a 'Sport' look-alike) in the "Maple Leaf" pattern--all owned by Mindy
A nice selection of black vintage fountain pens by an assortment of makers, including Conway Stewart, Salz, Swan, Summit and Whitney, brought in by Rene
Rene's Winkpens pen (a demonstrator pen with a glass nib that utilizes a ink converter that can be filled with a variety of liquids---e.g. coffee, wine, ink et al.) and a Pilot 'Kakuno' in the special "Kumamon" edition
Rene's beautiful Platinum 'Century 3776' "Yamanaka" Demonstrator Limited Edition fountain pen (only 3776 numbered pieces made)
Two vintage Wahl-Eversharp 'Skyline' fountain pens brought in by Rene. After consultation with an expert, it was determined that the bottom pen has a replacement cap and is not a 'Streamliner' (a less-common, lower-tier Eversharp model)
Vintage and modern ~ Rene's bright blue TWSBI 'Eco' and vintage Wyvern fountain pen in a woodgrain pattern. Below that is a Wahl-Eversharp 'Skyline', brought in by Christopher
A closeup of the engraving on the cap of Christopher's 'Skyline'. You can't see all of it, but the inscription says "Mother, Love Bob & Jim ~ Sept.19 '46"
A fine mini-collection of Sheaffer fountain pens belonging to Stuart. Among the pens are the 'Crest', 'Touchdown' and 'Balance' models (all vintage) and an all-black 'Taranis' (modern pen). Stuart also brought in his newest acquisition---a TWSBI 'Go' (not pictured)
Our topic was "Open Format" so we saw some unusual items, such as this Montblanc piston-removal tool created by VPC's own Tony using a piece of metal and a Dremel
Tony also brought in his TWSBI collection! (including some brand-new acquisitions)
The red, white and blue demonstrator is the special edition '580 Taiwan' that uses the colours of the Taiwanese flag (TWSBI being a Taiwanese manufacturer)
Alejandra' red Pilot 'Decimo', a slimmed-down version of the classic Pilot 'Vanishing Point' fountain pen, and a cute new Hobonichi Techo Weeks planner with a wild boar piglet motif
Part of my (Maja's) Retro 51 writing instrument collection (photo courtesy of Justin) displayed in a new acquisition, a bamboo 16-pen display case made by Retro 51
Dana brought in some really nice inks in some really nice pens---(top to bottom) Sailor 'Sapporo' (aka 'Professional Gear Slim') Orange demonstrator, vintage striped Pelikan 400NN, Lamy 'Al-Star' and a mystery pen I will endeavour to ID after I post this! (photo by Justin)
Christopher's 'Skyline' by Wahl-Eversharp (photo taken by its owner)
My apologies to Justin and Jerred for not snapping pics of the items they brought :(
Justin brought in some very cool handmade pens---a Osrey (ebonite fountain pen made in India), a Hinze (American made) fountain pen and a pen handmade by the Birmingham Pen Company in the "Eye of Sauron" resin---as well as a Montegrappa 'Game of Thrones' fountain pen, a new Pilot 823 (one of the pens on my own Wish List---Santa, are you listening??), a PenBBS pen and one by Delike. Jerred brought in some pens I'd never seen at any of our meetings before---a Delta 'Monza', a Bexley 'Imperial' and a Hero 'Century 5' (a discontinued model with an integrated fountain pen nib).
Many thanks to everyone who brought in stuff for our topic. We will being continuing this topic ("Open Format") at our meeting on October 18---all details about that meeting are here in this post.
Without further ado, here are some photos from that meeting, starting with these group shots courtesy of Christopher's phone camera:
Now some pen photos I snapped with my cel camera (apologies for the picture quality)
~Click on images to enlarge~
The red, white and blue demonstrator is the special edition '580 Taiwan' that uses the colours of the Taiwanese flag (TWSBI being a Taiwanese manufacturer)
My apologies to Justin and Jerred for not snapping pics of the items they brought :(
Justin brought in some very cool handmade pens---a Osrey (ebonite fountain pen made in India), a Hinze (American made) fountain pen and a pen handmade by the Birmingham Pen Company in the "Eye of Sauron" resin---as well as a Montegrappa 'Game of Thrones' fountain pen, a new Pilot 823 (one of the pens on my own Wish List---Santa, are you listening??), a PenBBS pen and one by Delike. Jerred brought in some pens I'd never seen at any of our meetings before---a Delta 'Monza', a Bexley 'Imperial' and a Hero 'Century 5' (a discontinued model with an integrated fountain pen nib).
Many thanks to everyone who brought in stuff for our topic. We will being continuing this topic ("Open Format") at our meeting on October 18---all details about that meeting are here in this post.
Wednesday, September 26, 2018
October meeting details
When: Thursday October 18, 2018 from 6:00pm to 8:30pm
(Don't worry if you're late---we usually start at around 6:30)
Where: the KITSILANO branch of the Vancouver Public Library at 2425 Macdonald Street (between Broadway and West 8th), Vancouver, BC
The meeting will take place in the community/meeting room on the lowest level of the library basement. This is where our club met in July.
Theme : OPEN FORMAT! We had sparse attendance for the September meeting (due to the rain, I suspect), so we're going to continue this theme in October :) Please bring whatever pen-related stuff you want to show that you haven't brought to a previous meeting and shown to the club. It can be pens, inks, pen accessories, etc. It's open format, so it's up to you what you bring! Oh and please try to limit it to 2 - 3 items per person, so we don't run out of time :)
Our secondary topic is always NEWEST ACQUISITIONS (pen-related)---eg. new pens/inks/paper/pen cases/other accessories/etc, so if you have any you wish to show, please bring them with you.
(Don't worry if you're late---we usually start at around 6:30)
Where: the KITSILANO branch of the Vancouver Public Library at 2425 Macdonald Street (between Broadway and West 8th), Vancouver, BC
The meeting will take place in the community/meeting room on the lowest level of the library basement. This is where our club met in July.
Theme : OPEN FORMAT! We had sparse attendance for the September meeting (due to the rain, I suspect), so we're going to continue this theme in October :) Please bring whatever pen-related stuff you want to show that you haven't brought to a previous meeting and shown to the club. It can be pens, inks, pen accessories, etc. It's open format, so it's up to you what you bring! Oh and please try to limit it to 2 - 3 items per person, so we don't run out of time :)
Our secondary topic is always NEWEST ACQUISITIONS (pen-related)---eg. new pens/inks/paper/pen cases/other accessories/etc, so if you have any you wish to show, please bring them with you.
Saturday, September 1, 2018
VPC Summer Dinner 2018 photos (part two)
Here is part two of our VPC Summer Dinner pics, in which we feature Ricardo's photos...
The Irish Heather's famous meat and cheese board (you select a combination of meat and/or fine cheeses plus condiments):
Sabrina's ready to sample the items she selected!
L-R: Glenn M, Justin (smiling at the camera), Stuart, Barry, Ray and Tony:
The Irish Heather's "Posh Grilled Cheese" entree made with Quebec brie, aged cheddar, carmelised onions and a buttered crust. Yummy!
Marey enjoying her Posh Grilled Cheese:
(L-R) Kelley, new VPCer Grace, and Jim:
Natasha (left) and Melodie:
An animated conversation between Melodie and Rene!
Several of our members are owners of the Platinum '3776 Century' fountain pen model.
Here are (L-R) Sabrina's, Melodie's and Jim's beautiful examples:
Another view of the Irish Heather's "Long Table", which can accommodate large groups very comfortably in a private room:
Barry K:
Melodie, Rene (hidden), Justin and Jim:
...and our 2018 VPC Summer Dinner draws to a close...(L-R: Kelley, Stuart, Maja, Jerred and our server):
Many thanks to the VPC members that came to the Dinner, and to Ralph, Ray and Ricardo for taking photos for our club's blog!
The Irish Heather's famous meat and cheese board (you select a combination of meat and/or fine cheeses plus condiments):
Here are (L-R) Sabrina's, Melodie's and Jim's beautiful examples:
Friday, August 31, 2018
VPC Summer Dinner 2018 photos (part one)
We had our 2018 Summer Dinner at the wonderful Irish Heather Gastropub in Vancouver's historic Gastown district on August 16th. Eighteen VPCers showed up for some good food, and even better company :)
Without further ado, here are some photos that Ralph took that evening (thanks, Ralph!)...
Photo above: Seated in the front row (L-R): Rene, Kelley, Grace, Jerred, Ricardo, Justin. Standing (L-R): Sabrina, Natasha, Maja, Melodie, Jim, Marey, Tony, Stuart, Glenn M, Barry K, Ray and Ralph.
(photo taken by our server)
(~Please click on images to enlarge~)
Stuart's reaction to his "Posh Grilled Cheese" dinner order:
(center) Longtime VPC member and connoisseur of fine Italian pens, Glenn Marcus, who has a great pen website with beautiful photography called Glenn's Pens:
Barry pointing to something in Maja's pen case:
Ricardo and his wonderful camera (I'll be posting Ricardo's photos from the Summer Dinner in a separate blog post--Update: I posted them here):
Our members enjoying the food (and pen talk)...
Ray snapped a few photos of some of the pens folks brought to show at the dinner (thanks, Ray!), like Jim's PENBBS '308':
Stuart's pen case with some old pens and newer acquisitions---a vintage Aurora '88', a Waterman 'Concorde', a Waterman 'Corinth', a Waterman 'Taperite Crusader' (hey, I sense a pattern! ;) and a small Wearever ringtop:
Kelley's fountain pens---I see a few Lamy 'Al-Stars', a Noodler's 'Standard Creaper' pen in the cool "Pumpkin Poltergeist" colour, a lovely purple Kaweco 'Sport', a Pilot 'Metropolitan', a Pilot 'Parallel' pen...
Ricardo enjoying the festivities...
Ricardo brought a couple of beautiful fountain pens (newer acquisitions) with him to the dinner---a Graf von Faber-Castell 'Guilloche Burned Orange' and a translucent brown Sailor 'Pro Gear Slim' (aka the Sailor 'Sapporo'):
Many thanks to the good folks at The Irish Heather for their warm hospitality, friendly & attentive service, and for accommodating our large group at their "Long Table" again this summer !
Without further ado, here are some photos that Ralph took that evening (thanks, Ralph!)...
September meeting details
SEPTEMBER MEETING DETAILS:
When: Thursday September 20, 2018
Time: 6:00pm (or so) to 8:30pm
Where: Where we met in June --- the TERRY SALMAN branch of the Vancouver Public Library, 4575 Clancy Loranger Way, Vancouver (on the lower level of the Hillcrest Community Center) by Queen Elizabeth Park & Nat Bailey Stadium.
The meeting will take place in their Community Room (meeting room). Tips on how to get to the library via transit are in this old post.
Theme : OPEN FORMAT! Please bring whatever pen-related stuff you want to show that you haven't brought to a previous meeting and shown to the club. It's open format, so it's up to you what you bring! Oh and please try to limit it to 2 - 3 items per person, so we don't run out of time :)
Our secondary topic is always NEWEST ACQUISITIONS (pen-related)---eg. new pens/inks/paper/pen cases/other accessories/etc, so if you have any you wish to show, please bring them with you. No need to RSVP for this meeting. Hope you can make it!
When: Thursday September 20, 2018
Time: 6:00pm (or so) to 8:30pm
Where: Where we met in June --- the TERRY SALMAN branch of the Vancouver Public Library, 4575 Clancy Loranger Way, Vancouver (on the lower level of the Hillcrest Community Center) by Queen Elizabeth Park & Nat Bailey Stadium.
The meeting will take place in their Community Room (meeting room). Tips on how to get to the library via transit are in this old post.
Theme : OPEN FORMAT! Please bring whatever pen-related stuff you want to show that you haven't brought to a previous meeting and shown to the club. It's open format, so it's up to you what you bring! Oh and please try to limit it to 2 - 3 items per person, so we don't run out of time :)
Our secondary topic is always NEWEST ACQUISITIONS (pen-related)---eg. new pens/inks/paper/pen cases/other accessories/etc, so if you have any you wish to show, please bring them with you. No need to RSVP for this meeting. Hope you can make it!
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