Friday, March 2, 2012

March meeting details!

February went by so quickly it's hard to believe that it's almost time for another VPC meeting!
Here are the details regarding our next pen club meetup:

Date: Thursday March 15, 2012
Place: Perks pen store --- 5844 Cambie Street, Vancouver, BC (usual place)
Time: 6:30pm-8:30pm ("early birds" welcome at 6:00pm to chat before the meeting).
Theme: Waterman Fountain Pens ~ Vintage & Modern.
As always, "New Acquisitions" are our secondary topic. If you don't have any Watermans or new pens/ink/paper to show, don't worry---come anyways, and see what other members have brought!

Hope to see a good turnout!
~Maja

Sunday, February 19, 2012

A Hawaii Option Well Worth Considering


A pen store review from one of our members.....

A HAWAII OPTION WELL WORTH CONSIDERING

On a recent visit to Hawaii, my wife Chris and I visited the Pele Signature Pen shop, which is located on the Waikiki strip in the Outrigger Mall (2335 Kalakaua Ave.). We actually had visited the store previously, when it first opened and met the wife of the Pele Signature Pen designer. She was most accommodating and gave us a complete history and rundown on her husband’s fine pens. These impressive and most attractive writing instruments are crafted from fine rich woods, re the barrels and caps. To these wooden parts, he adds fittings, nibs and fillers, to make up stunning fountain and ball point pens, in a wide variety of finishes. The store is well stocked and a treat for any pen collector to check out. The staff seemed most eager to relate all points of interest about the their pens and the prices are well within market reality. If you are visiting Hawaii, and in particular Waikiki, don’t miss this option. I believe Pele Pens can also be ordered and there is a great utube video, which will give you a good idea of what is available. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrZL2UYA2yE

Aloha

Christopher M. Robertson


(I added a quick photo--click on photo to enlarge--of the store's business card to Christopher's review as it gives the store's current website, at www.pelesignatures.com/ . The old website mentioned in the YouTube video is out-of-date)

Some pics from our February meeting

We had a good turnout for our Feb 16th meeting---18 VPC members came to see & talk about their pen collections. Many thanks to Richard of Perks pen store for the photos!


(From L to R) Michael, Ian, Glenn C. and David S. looking at some of the pens brought in for our meeting's theme-"Complete the Set". Michael spoke about his current collecting interest---the stylish Esterbrook 'Scribe' ballpoint. In the foreground of this photo, you can see my brightly-coloured Sheaffer NoNonsense collection in the large pen case.


Glenn C. talking about his current collecting focus, Pelikan pens. Glenn brought along his lovely Pelikan 101N Tortoise reissue for us to see---a gorgeous fountain pen!


Bruce R. (red shirt) brought his amazing collection of Visconti limited edition pens. That's me in the black Parker '51' T-shirt I recently got from www.asimpledaisy.com. To my right are Greg, Dexter and Tristan. Greg is currently collecting blue and orange pens, as well as Lamy Al-Star fountain pens.


Wai and Glenn M. both seemed to enjoy the presentations. Glenn brought his
great Waterman Edson and modern Waterman Patrician collections.


Christopher R. (tan jacket) and Mark H. (to his left) both talked about their pen collections. Mark has recently focused his collecting on Wahl-Eversharp pens.


Newer member Sam (black jacket) brought some very cool pens, including his old-style Rotring 600 collection. Bill K. (to Sam's right) and Julienne (in foreground with yellow shirt) don't have a current collecting focus, but enjoyed the meeting. Bill says he only buys pens that write well---a wise approach!


David S. (wearing glasses) talked about the pens he used to collect; nowdays, he mostly buys and sells pens, but has a special interest in the ever-popular Parker '51'.


Ian (brown sweater) and Graham (light blue T-shirt) listening to a presentation during the "Show & Tell" portion of our meeting.

Many thanks to all who attended our meeting--see you on March 15th at Perks (usual place) when our topic will be "Waterman Pens ~ Vintage & Modern"!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Something to listen to on your daily commute.....

Trying to find something interesting to listen to on the commute to work or school?

Look no further than the podcasts at Fountain Pen Geeks!

Eric & Dan's weekly podcasts are an informative and entertaining way to learn about new pens and pen-related products... and it's completely free. You can listen to their podcasts directly from the site, or you can download the podcasts from iTunes and listen to them on the bus or in your car.

A special shout-out to the guys for featuring my "Geek Note" pen photo on the Show Notes for podcast # 11 here. In my note, I neglected to mention that the pen used was my awesome Faber-Castell E-Motion Ivory "Crocodile" (Precious Resin) fountain pen that I bought from Kim at PenQuest.com (filled with Noodler’s # 41 Brown ink purchased from the Perks pen store on Cambie St. where our club meets).

I am looking forward to more interesting content in future podcasts, as well as great pen reviews & pen-related news on their website. Kudos to Dan & Eric on a job well done!

Late addition to my post above---- Here's the (unedited) photo of my Faber-Castell that I sent in to FPGeeks:

(please excuse the poor quality of my unedited photo above; the guys at FPGeeks obviously adjusted the colours before they put it on their site :)

Saturday, January 21, 2012

February meeting details---Ink Swap & more!!

We are back to our usual venue---Perks on Cambie Street----for this meeting---details below!

Date: Thursday February 16, 2012
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: "Complete the Set" (in-progress, substantially complete, and wannabe fountain pen sets). For example, Parker 51 fountain pens in various colours, Lamy Safari fountain pens in all production colours, etc.
As always, "New Acquisitions" are our secondary topic.

INK SWAP!

By popular demand, we will be doing another INK SWAP at this meeting. Please bring any inks you don't want with you to the meeting, and trade them with a fellow VPC member for ink/inks that you *will* use! No obligation to bring any inks if you love and use *all* your inks, of course :) Bottles and cartridges for trade are both fine for the Ink Swap.

Friday, January 20, 2012

January meeting photos

We had a good turnout for our January meeting last night (Jan. 19th)---15 VPC members braved the chilly winter conditions to come to the Oakridge White Spot restaurant. Many thanks to all who attended, to Wai for the cookies and Chinese New Year tokens, and to those who brought pens for the anonymous pen swap!

We are back at Perks for our next meeting, which is scheduled for Thursday February 16th (but check this website for last-minute updates/changes). Theme/topic for the February meeting: "Complete the Set" (see post above with full meeting details)

Now, here are some photos taken by Bill K. last night at the meeting (thanks, Bill!):


(the long table at White Spot wasn't ideal for a group discussion, but the food and company were excellent!


(in the photo directly above & seated clockwise from bottom left: Ralph, Glenn C., new member Greg, Bob M., Christopher, Sam, Tristan, Graham, Michael, Dexter)



(photo above---Bruce and Wai discussing pens; Dexter is in the background)



(I had a good time catching up with my good friend Brian--seated to my left in the photo above--- who came to our meeting last night, after a long absence. Welcome back, Brian!)


(me with a nice pen set I got from a good pen friend in Australia--sent to me via a mutual friend in our pen club)

Sunday, January 1, 2012

Venue change for January 2012 meeting!

The venue for our meeting on Thursday January 19, 2012 has been moved from Perks (our regular place), due to store owner Richard's vacation plans. The meeting will be held at the White Spot restaurant inside Oakridge Mall, from 6:00pm to 8:30pm. VPC members, please RSVP me re: your attendance (Yes or No) for this meeting before Saturday Jan 14th so I can re-confirm our reservation a few days beforehand.

Our January topic will be Chinese & Taiwanese fountain pens
, so please bring some examples if you have any. As always, new acquisitions are our secondary topic, so if you received some pen-related Christmas gifts, please bring them along as well!

Wishing you & yours all the very best in the New Year 2012! ~Maja

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Christmas presents!

My lovely new Lamy Safari Al-star fountain pen in Ruby Red (a limited edition colour) and a bottle of Yard-O-Led blue-black ink---gifts I got from my parents for Christmas this year.

Many thanks to Perks (on Cambie Street) and the Vancouver Pen Shop for having these lovely items for sale! Cheers ~Maja

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Waterman Ad. 119 years old.


Merry Christmas and Best Wishes for the New Year!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

Season's Greetings! (please note: venue change for January 2012 meeting!)



As there is no December meeting, our next meeting is Thurs. January 19, 2012, however,
please note, the meeting venue has been moved from Perks (our regular place), due to store owner Richard's vacation plans. The meeting will be held at the White Spot restaurant inside Oakridge Mall, from 6:00pm to 8:30pm. VPC members, please RSVP me re: your attendance (Yes or No) for this meeting before Saturday Jan 14th so I can re-confirm our reservation a few days beforehand.

The theme of the January meeting will be Chinese & Taiwanese Pens (in honour of the Chinese New Year), so I hope you can make it.

Many thanks to all members who took the time to come to our meetings in 2011. Your participation is what makes this group the fun club that it is :) As well, many thanks to Richard of Perks for his hospitality & support throughout the year!
Best wishes to all for a happy holiday season....See you in 2012!

(P.S. The pen in the photo above is my Retro 51 Scriptmaster)