His Nibs.com update -- Nabu

His Nibs.com update -- Nabu
June 1st, 2007

Teresa (Mrs. Nibs to you) and I returned from
the National Stationery Show thoroughly
exhausted as usual...but at least I got my
favorite NY soft pretzel. I may write more
fully about the trip in a future update...or
on my blog like last
time http://hisnibs.blogspot.com/2005/05/stationary-stationery.html [1]. This time I'll focus on the
highlight for me...seeing the first
Monteverde Mega Ink*Ball
'Reverse Painting Inside' pens in person (and
learning that we can finally refer to them as
something other than MMIBRPI pens)! That new name
is 'Nabu'...which I'll tell you more about anon.

It's been awhile since I've carried the
Monteverde Jewelria line of pens...but I
couldn't resist offering the new Cork version
in rollerball...and a diminutive ballpen.

On the blog...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
in this issue
* Nabu
* Jewelria cork pens
* Who killed the honeybees?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nabu

The choice of the name Nabu for the this
process of inside reverse painting is derived
from two sources. The first is it's
approximation to the sound of the Chinese
(Mandarin)
characters
for "Inside" and "Writing
Brush" or "Writing Pen" (Naa Bee --
approximately). The second reason
chosen is that Nabu was the Babylonian god of
wisdom and writing. He was patron of the art
of writing and a god of vegetation. Nabu's
symbols were the clay tablet and the stylus,
the instruments held to be proper to him who
inscribed the fates assigned to men by the
gods. It never hurts to have a god on your side!

I've also added links to videos (an
introductory one; short versions for each
pen; and one that lasts almost an hour!), which
detail the intricate process of creating the
first three Limited Edition Mega Nabu
pens...beginning with the fashioning of the
tiny brush itself. So, those of you that have
already pre-ordered...or those that do so
before all of the pens are spoken for...will
see how your 'Flowers and Birds', 'Great Wall
of China' or 'Tiger' pen is handpainted. The
painting is too labor-intensive to show the
entire process real-time, but the videos show the
beginning, middle and end of the creation of
each pen.

I learned just today that Monteverde will
adding a CD of the long film in each Nabu pen box
and that I should be receiving my initial
order next week (although less than 100 pens
of each model are now available for re-order).

From overhearing others talk while wandering
the aisles, it seems that the Nabu pens were
the hit of this year's
Stationery Show. They're also the cover-story
of the new issue of Stylus
magazine http://www.stylusmag.com/ [2] (as I write this, they don't yet
have the new cover up on their website).

Embracing the old adage that a picture is
worth a thousand words -- and audio don't
hurt neither -- I've added a short video
about the Nabu pens of my own to the
website. I realize
that the multitudes have
been clamoring for a glimpse of His
Nibs for years now. How could I continue to
deny them that
pleasure?

Ok, ok, so maybe it was
only one
person....(shhhh, Mom).

I apologize for the poor lighting
and audio of this first attempt, but my
personal film crew was off filming Ocean's 17.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jewelria cork pens

The Jewelria Cork rollerball measures 5-1/4"
and comes supplied with both a ballpoint and
capless rollerball refill (one year cap-off
time). It will also accept gel refills.
Although the outer material is cork, this pen
will not float. Smiling . Due to its brass
inner-construction, the pen actually has a
pleasing heft to it.

Measuring just 4-1/2", the Jewelria mini
ballpen is ready to take anywhere -- with
style. It takes the standard mini-ballpoint
refills.

See more photos here... - http://www.hisnibs.com/jewelria_cork.htm [4]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Who killed the honeybees?

Here's an update on previous blog entries.
This is not the last word, I'm
sure.

"A round table of experts answer
all our pressing questions about the sudden
death of the nation's bees. What they have to
say has a bigger sting than we ever expected.

The buzz about the alarming disappearance of
bees has been all about people food.
Honeybees pollinate one-third of the fruits,
nuts and vegetables that end up in our homey
kitchen baskets. If the tireless apian
workers didn't fly from one flower to the
next, depositing pollen grains so that fruit
trees can bloom, America could well be asking
where its next meal would come from. Last
fall, the nation's beekeepers watched in
horror as more than a quarter of their 2.4
million colonies collapsed, killing billions
of nature's little fertilizers.

But as a Salon round table discussion with
bee experts revealed, the mass exodus of bees
to the great hive in the sky forebodes a
bigger story. The faltering dance between
honeybees and trees is symptomatic of
industrial disease. As the scientists
outlined some of the biological agents behind
"colony collapse disorder," and dismissed the
ones that are not -- sorry, friends, the
Rapture is out -- they sketched a picture of
how we are forever altering the planet's
delicate web of life.

The scientists constituted a fascinating
foursome, each with his own point of view."

You can read the entire article from Salon
magazine by clicking the link below. You'll
have to click through one online ad to do so.

Read the article here... - http://hisnibs.blogspot.com [5]

Regards,

Norman Haase
His Nibs.com
www.hisnibs.com [6]
Blog: http://hisnibs.blogspot.com [7]