Saturday, March 22, 2014

Favourites!

Twenty-one VPC members (including three newcomers---Sherry, Mido & Kiyoshi) attended our March meeting, whose theme was our favourite pens, inks, paper, and pen + ink combos.

Pen favourites included: Lamys (Bill Kempton's 'Studio' & Greg's '2000' models), Pelikans (several different Souverän models brought in by Bruce, Greg, Maja, Sienca and Stuart), Sheaffers (Anne's 'TRZ' and Maja's 'Legacy'), assorted modern Italian brands (Bruce's OMAS Paragon, Glenn's OMAS Extra Lucens 2013 LE shown here, Maja's beloved Stipula Duetto & Signum Orione pens, Glenn's Montegrappa "Extra 1930", and Bruce's Visconti Australis), as well as the ubiquitous Parker '51' (a favourite pen of Derek and Greg). Tony brought his trusty TWSBI 'Mini' and Mark showed us his Wahl-Eversharp 'Doric' desk set, a stunning vintage piece.

A fun time was had by all, as you can see by the photos taken by Derek below. Many thanks to all who attended, and especially to Richard Clarke of Perks for hosting our meeting at his wonderful pen store!

(click on photos to enlarge)

Maja (far left) listens with rapt attention as Greg (who chose this month's theme) talks about his favourite pens & inks, while Julienne watches intently and Tony snaps a photo with his own camera.

Sienca gave a nice talk on her favourite pens (Pelikans) and paper (Banditapple). Clockwise from lower left: Sherry, Julienne, Glenn M, Tony, Kiyoshi, James, Ken, Sienca, Bruce, Maja, Brian and Greg.

In the foreground, you can see Greg's favourite fountain pens--a couple of Lamy 2000s, two Pilot Vanishing Point pens, a Pelikan M805, a Parker '51---and inks ( Pilot "Iroshizuku" and Rohrer & Klingner "Alt-Goldgrun"). Also visible are Stuart's favourite inks (Diamine's Mediterranean Blue & Conway Stewart's Tamar), and a small bottle of Sanford's 'Penit'- a vintage fountain pen ink brought in by Derek.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday April 17 at 6:30pm at Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie Street in Vancouver (i.e. the usual time & place) and our topic (chosen by Bruce) will be 'Constant Comment' - Pens that evoke interest/comments whenever you pull them out. Bonus points for pens which attract attention from non-aficionados. Hope you can make it! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at vancouverpenclub@ gmail.com

Cheers ~Maja

Monday, March 17, 2014

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

The pen in the photo above is a green Parker UK Duofold, a somewhat lesser-known (and underrated) vintage Parker fountain pen. For more information on this fountain pen model, check out this page on Tony Fischier's awesome Parker pens reference site.

And, just a quick reminder that our next meeting is this Thursday March 20 at 6:30pm at Perks pen store (5844 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC). The meeting theme is "Our Favourite Pen, Ink, Ink+Pen Combo and Favourite Paper", so I hope you can make it. No need to RSVP---just drop by and see what our club is all about. New members are always welcome!

Thursday, March 6, 2014

March meeting details!

Date: Thursday March 20, 2014

Place: Perks pen store, 5844 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC

Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm ("early birds" welcome at 6:00pm, to chat before the meeting).

Theme: Our Favourite Pen, Ink and Ink+Pen Combo. Oh and paper! (~theme chosen by Greg~). In Greg's words: That's right folks, it's pen, ink and paper time! I would really like you to bring along your favourite pen, favourite ink and your favourite pen & ink combo. Note that the pen + ink combo doesn't have to be your favourite ink in your favourite pen, it could well be a particular combo that just works brilliantly together that you love. Of course if you're split and can't decide between a few favourites bring a few!. As a side note if you do have a specific paper that you find amazing bring a sample along for us to see and hear about.

As usual, "Newest Acquisitions" is our secondary topic so please bring any pens/inks/paper or pen-related accessories you've acquired recently. If you don't have any stuff to bring for either topic, don't worry---just come and see what other members have brought! No RSVPs required for any meetings held at Perks. Hope to see you there!