Elephant and Coral’s Herman Chan gives away pens!

October 28th, 2003 TreatsTags: Pens

Elephant and Coral’s Herman Chan gives away pens! According to him, he gives away Namikis to local writers who have had their works published. This is probably the only incentive to be published.

I had been looking at John Mottishaw’s www.nibs.com contemplating the purchase of a Pelikan M800 or M600 made extra flexible and extra fine. After experimenting with Cross, Lamy, Rotring and Parker (even the vintage), I think I’m going to stick with Pelikan and if I’m going to get any new pens it’s because it’s jewellery.

I am looking to buy a good black ink. I’ve got a bottle of Parker black. It’s pretty weak stuff. I’ve read Aurora black is the popular black and I’m keen to try.

Jiang-Song Mei Ling

October 28th, 2003 Obituaries

Jiang-Song Mei Ling died on Sunday. She was 106 and had been in America.

Culture as a Mating Ritual

October 19th, 2003 Uncategorized

Friedrich von Blowhard post on Culture as a Mating Ritual revists an old idea. A male writer saying, “I’m in it for the chicks.” is not far from boasting. Women, get drawn by male writers who may not have produced a great body of work, even less, a significant work. The point is, just a little dabbling allows a male to be percieved as just that bit better even though the artist may not be earning pots of money from his craft. But being a very talented and dedicated artist may be counter productive to procreating. Women artists, when applying this same trick however, always fail to improve their mating quality unlike a female revealing she is a Singapore Airline stewardess, or actress, or model. This immediately increases her mating quality. That is to say, roles in society are more or less fixed based on sexuality: a male writer, a female dancer, a male engineer, a female server, a female caretaker, a male rock singer, a female opera singer.

Namiki VP, Fook Hing increased prices

October 11th, 2003 TreatsTags: Pens

The Namiki VP nib is extraordinarily smooth and very stiff. I tried another namiki – all black with a skinny nib but was surprisingly, not as fine as the VP. It almost as thick as the ATX fine that I own. The nib, the sales person told me, is suppose to be flexible. I detect a slight springiness that I have not experienced in a fine nib, only a medium Pelikan. The nib unfortunately is coarse in writing. The price is higher at $240. This maybe the low end Namiki Falcon I have heard on the pens-pencil-collecting newsgroup.

Digress: To a pen collector, the enjoyment is not from the shopping experience but the use of the purchased pen. Yesterday, I discovered that the renovation had dug deep into Fook Hing’s pockets. I’m very sorry to discover that the prices have increased uniformly by 15%. (They use to be able to give 30% discounts.) I will have to look for another pen shop.

Language snobs

October 6th, 2003 Uncategorized

If the French are snobs about their language, English are worse snobs. Think Professor Henry Higgins whinging in My Fair Lady “Why can’t the English”

This Englishman who was coaching me on my speaking skills said, while listening to me speaking on tape, “Good English!” and he had nodded, sticking his thumbs up. He was paying a native a compliment because it is very good job done for a native to speak such a difficult language as their precious English.

Frankly, Singaporeans get the poorer end of the stick because of our half past six* langauge skills. We get condescending treatement from both the Chinese and the English because we suck at both. No, no, they would vigorously nod, you are already very good at this

On styles of Prime Ministers and PM-to-be

October 2nd, 2003 Uncategorized

I forgot to log this historical event. In the national day speech, Goh Chok Tong said he will be stepping down round about 2005.

This is what I think.

Henry Lee had been a communist and so explains the heavy handedness, Goh Chok Tong is an economist and so explains his ‘consultative government’. Lee Hsien Loong’s from the army. An army man is used to being told, “Yes sir” rather than, “I think…”. Whatever the ST writers say about him and his surprising friendliness, whether he likes babies and so on, does little to move me. If he thinks wrongly then, we are done for.