February 2016

Pencil economics and the Mongol

In Episode 193 of the Pen Addict Brad and Myke mentioned a recent Freakonomics Radio [1]Depsite the name it is a podcast. episode called Who Needs Handwriting?.

I read the Freakonomics book a few years ago. Funnily enough I got it from a friend who I got to know through this blog after posting about a Mongol sharpened with an angle of 14° [2]It’s funny because in the next sentence there’ll be a connection back to the Mongol..

Well, the next episode of Freakonomics Radio looked at “I, Pencil”, the famous economics essay about the Mongol 482. Just like in the previous episode Caroline Weaver from CW Pencils was involved [3]…and to my surprise she says her shop is profitable, which I wouldn’t have expected thinking about how expensive rent in New York must be, as well as flying around the world to the … Continue reading.

Venezuelan Mongols
Ok, it’s not the 482, but the 480, but the Mongol 482 photos from my blog look less suitable for this blog post than this one does. 

One of the best bits of this episode is Tim Harford’s appearance. He’s the guy behind the Radio 4 Programme More or Less, looking at numbers and statistics in the news and everyday life. I listen to every episode of his great programme.

There’s also a great part about the General Pencil Company and how they make their pencils.


Funnily enough the photo of the I, Pencil Freakonomics Radio episode doesn’t feature a Mongol, but the good, old Noris!

 

References

References
1 Depsite the name it is a podcast.
2 It’s funny because in the next sentence there’ll be a connection back to the Mongol.
3 …and to my surprise she says her shop is profitable, which I wouldn’t have expected thinking about how expensive rent in New York must be, as well as flying around the world to the different trade fairs.

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Shaun the Sheep’s Noris

Shaun the Sheep is using a Noris. Who would have thought. Yes, it is a cartoon version of a Noris, but it is unmistakably a Noris. Nice!

Shaun's Noris (Image © Aardman Animations)
Shaun’s Noris (Image © Aardman Animations)

 

Shaun's Noris (Image © Aardman Animations)
Shaun’s Noris (Image © Aardman Animations)

I have added these images to the Noris in the Wild page.

This episode is actually from 2012, but I have never seen Shaun the Sheep before, so this blog post is a bit late. I only noticed it because I had a children’s programme on for the little one.


I believe that the use of the image, taken from Episode 10 Bye Bye Barn of Season 3 of Shaun the Sheep, shown in this blog post, falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

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Muji’s pencils

This week I had a quick look at Manchester’s Muji store, where I found wood cased pencils and a desktop pencil sharpener.

Manchester used to have a bigger Muji store, but it closed down, maybe about ten years ago. We now only have a smaller Muji store in Selfridges.

Manchester’s Muji didn’t have these pencils and the sharpener earlier this year [1]They used to sell wood cased coloured pencils, though., but it could be that bigger stores were stocking these products for a while already.

Muji's pencils and sharpener
Muji’s pencils and sharpener

I didn’t buy them, just because Japanese pencils in HB can be to soft for my style of writing (I want a fine point that lasts) and for the kind of paper I use (normal paper). An example of this would be Tombow’s Drawing pencil in HB. I thought Muji’s 2B pencils are most likely too soft for me so I didn’t want to buy them and then end up not using them.

The pens left of the pencils seem very similar to OHTO Tasche pens.

References

References
1 They used to sell wood cased coloured pencils, though.

Muji’s pencils Read More »

A mysterious pencil

Just a quick Seen in the wild post.

The lastest X-Files episode seems to have featured a Derwent Graphic pencil. I have only seen a few minutes of this episode so far, so I’m not sure whether this pencil will make a repeat appearance.

Christopher Logan using a Derwent Graphic pencil? (Image © Ten Thirteen Productions / 20th Century Fox)
A Derwent Graphic pencil? (Image © Ten Thirteen Productions / 20th Century Fox)

I believe that the use of the image, taken from Episode 2 Founder’s Mutation of Season 10 of the X-Files, shown in this blog post, falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

A mysterious pencil Read More »

Politics and cooking

German politics

Let’s start with a photo I got from Henrik. You can see the pencils Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, is using: Faber-Castell Grip 2001s. [1]Did you know that the official way of addressing her is “Your excellency”?

Angela Merkel's pencils (Image © Bundesregierung / Steffen Kugler)
Angela Merkel’s pencils (Image © Bundesregierung / Steffen Kugler)

British politics

Meanwhile, in the UK the House of Lords decided that they would stop using vellum (goat or calf skin) for printing laws. It looks as if the Cabinet Office minister will now offer to pay the cost (around £80,000 a year) to keep this tradition alive. You can read more about it at the Guardian. Just to avoid any confusion, vellum is parchment made from animal skin, but vellum paper or paper vellum is not. You might have come across vellum paper on Rhodia notepads (High Grade Vellum Paper), but it’s synthetic and not made from animal skin. Rhodia Drive wrote about this a few months ago.

Rhodia High Grade Vellum Paper
Rhodia High Grade Vellum Paper

British cooking

Staying in the UK: In Rick Stein’s Taste of Shanghai you can see him making notes using a pencil. At first glance I thought it is a Caran d’Ache 844, but after rewinding and looking again I think it’s a Pentel P209 (0.9mm) mechanical pencil.

Rick Stein's pencil (Image © Denhams / BBC) - a Pentel P209
Rick Stein’s pencil (Image © Denhams / BBC)

I believe that the use of the images shown in this blog post, falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.

References

References
1 Did you know that the official way of addressing her is “Your excellency”?

Politics and cooking Read More »