His Nibs.com update -- Longda #104

His Nibs.com Update --
Longda #104
January 4, 2004

This week brings another new Chinese brand and
model...the Longda #104. A semi-hooded nib and a
arrow clip. What more could anyone want (well,
there's the Jaguar that I *still* haven't gotten for
Christmas, even though I've asked for one every year
since the mid-60's)?

I'll be offline this weekend, celebrating Elvis' birthday
on Sunday, along with the assured Giants' victory in
the playoff game. Coincidentally, it's my own birthday
that day, and this one is one of those that has the
temerity to end in a '0'. Let's just say "30", ok?

Last week I shared some of my brother Bruce's
recent cartoons, including one featuring King Kong.
When shown to his editor at the newspaper, the
editor replied that he thought King Kong would be
more likely to have wished for a naked Naomi
Watts...so see the before and after versions
below. Bruce can be reached via email at
brucepritcharddesign@comcast.net should you wish
any caricatures or other artwork done, and his
website -- needing an update -- can be found
here (http://hometown.aol.com/pritcharddesign/).

...and on the blog: The surprising complexity of
walking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in this issue
* Longda #104
* Original King Kong cartoon
* King Kong redux
* On the blog...The surprising complexity of walking

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Longda #104

Here we have a sharp-looking, mid-sized pen -- 5-
1/4" capped and 6" with the cap posted -- that
delivers good 'bang for the buck'. Although the cap
and barrel are of primarily brass construction, it's a
light-weight pen that any hand should find
comfortable. Its arrow clip -- sans the feathers --
may remind you of a certain other pen company. I
like to think of it as an homage .

The slip cap posts securely with a click on both ends
of the pen, and uncapping reveals a good-sized
plastic gripping section with incised ribbing for a
secure hold while writing. The section continues into
a semi-hooded configuration, almost identical to the
Ouguwen -- but without the scary eyes! Unlike that
pen, which comes with an x-fine nib, this model has
a nib that I'd describe as a western fine. At this price
point, it is of course a steel nib.

Read more here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/longda.htm

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Original King Kong cartoon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
King Kong redux

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the blog...The surprising complexity of walking

"Next time someone tells you to watch your step, tell
them you already are.

Placing your foot down when walking was thought to
be a predetermined process: lift foot, decide where
to put it based on what's on the ground, and if
nothing moves, land it down on the original target.
Scientists thought this procedure requires no
immediate visual information once the foot was lifted
off the ground.

But a new study has found that continuous visual
guidance mechanisms may be needed for accurate
foot placement.

"We have demonstrated that vision can be used in an
online fashion to fine-tune foot placement during a
step," said Raymond Reynolds, of the Institute of
Neurology, Queen Square, London. "It was previously
thought that vision was used to plan the step in
advance but not necessarily monitor its ongoing
progress.'"

Read more... - http://hisnibs.blogspot.com

Regards,

Norman Haase
His Nibs.com
www.hisnibs.com
Blog: http://hisnibs.blogspot.com