His Nibs.com Update --
Artista -- Monteverde's demonstrator
December 9th, 2006
All hail the return of the demonstrator! Monteverde
has produced a terrific new series of pens, called
Artista (I'm stocking the fountain pen,
but rollerballs, ball pens and fineliners are also
available) that are produced with a transparent
barrel and matching cap, and are made from top-class
acrylic resin -- hand-polished inside and out.
Speaking of Monteverde, I just received my
re-stocking order of the burgundy Mega, so
once again all three versions of the pen are in
stock -- including the limited edition.
We have a new addition to our collection of pen
cups...this time a cast iron Gargoyle.
Coming in a day or two, the wildly popular Pilot
78G fountain pen -- which I was only able to get
in M (western fine) is being joined by the F
(western x-fine) and the B (a stub/italic)!
DUKE pens have largely been re-stocked, including
the gorgeous Bright Pearl.
On the blog...Two species cooperate to hunt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in this issue
* Monteverde Artista
* Monteverde MEGA Ink*Ball back-in-stock
* Cast Iron Gargoyle pen cup
* Pilot 78G in new nib sizes
* DUKE re-stocked, including Bright Pearl
* On the blog...Two species cooperate to hunt
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monteverde Artista
All hail the return of the demonstrator! Almost from
the first days of the fountain pen, one of the most
sought-after additions to a collection was the pen
salesman's demonstrator pen. These were typically
pens that were partially, or fully
transparent...used by a fountain pen salesman to
demonstrate the inner workings of the particular pen
model that was being sold. Later, pen companies
began producing demonstrators -- usually in very
small quantities or as limited editions --
especially for the collecting market. Consequently,
these were often sold at a premium.
See and read more... - http://www.hisnibs.com/artista.htm [1]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Monteverde MEGA Ink*Ball back-in-stock
Friday night saw me driving to the little town of
Bethlehem -- Pennsylvania that is -- to intercept my
re-stocking order of burgundy Megas from FedEx. The
lazy bums weren't planning on delivering them until
Monday.
So, all three versions are now back in stock: the
burgundy; the oversized black; and the limited
edition yellow and black.
More here.... - http://www.hisnibs.com/mega.htm [2]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cast Iron Gargoyle pen cup
Nobody will dare to mess with your
pens again. Not if you store them in this ferocious
medieval gargoyle pen cup that is. There's a reason
he has to be restrained with chains!
More pen cups here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/pen_cups.htm [3]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pilot 78G in new nib sizes
I'm a couple of days premature in mentioning this,
but I know that during this busy time of year, no
one wants to get a 2nd email update within
the week (except of course for you Mom).
The extremely popular Pilot 78G fountain pens that
many of you purchased within the past couple of
weeks, are arriving in the next couple of days with
two new nib choices.
Let me first try to clear up the confusion about the
nib sizes available. The Japanese 'F' designation is
actually like a western x-fine nib. The 'M' is like
a typical western fine nib. Finally, the 'B' nibs
are actually cut as stub/italic nibs -- as you can
see in the photo above -- and they produce lovely,
shaded writing. I don't have an exact measurement of
the 'B' nibs, but the thicker downstroke line would
be similar to a western light-medium or medium.
These are currently available only in the black.
Read more here.... - http://www.hisnibs.com/pilot_pens.htm [4]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DUKE re-stocked, including Bright Pearl
Most of the DUKE and Uranus models were re-stocked
within the last week, including the gorgeous Bright
Pearl.
See more here.... - http://www.hisnibs.com/bright_pearl.htm [5]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
On the blog...Two species cooperate to hunt
Researchers say it's the first example of
coordinated hunting seen in fish.
"The giant moray eel is normally a lone hunter in
the dark. Now scientists find these eels may at
times hunt in the daytime in the Red Sea, and
surprisingly cooperate with another predatory fish,
the grouper, which is also normally a solitary
predator.
This is the first example of coordinated hunting
seen in fish, and the first known instance of
cooperative hunting between species seen outside
humans, researchers said.
..."When I first saw a grouper shaking its head in
the face of a moray, I thought two top predators
were about to fight each other," Bshary said. "So I
was very surprised when they swam off together side
by side."
Bshary and his colleagues followed fish around by
snorkeling. They found groupers often visited giant
morays resting in their crevices and rapidly shook
their heads an inch or so from the eels to recruit
them in a joint hunt. At times this call took place
after a grouper failed in its hunt because prey
escaped into a crevice the grouper could not get
into but a giant moray might.
If the moray emerged, the grouper guided the eel to
a crevice where prey was hiding. Groupers sometimes
even performed a headstand and shook its head over a
prey hiding place to attract moray eels to the site.
At times the moray ate the fish it rooted out, while
at other times the grouper did.
Before this, coordinated hunting was only seen in
mammals and birds. In addition, until now the only
other examples of cooperative hunting between
species were seen with humans and dogs or humans and
dolphins, Bshary said."
Read the full article here.... - http://hisnibs.blogspot.com [6]
Regards,
Norman Haase
His Nibs.com
www.hisnibs.com [7]
Blog: http://hisnibs.blogspot.com [8]