I like the Noris shavings from KUM’s Masterpiece [1]I guess officially it should be ‘KUM’s The Masterpiece’ so much, I took them out of the waste bin to take a photo. 
References
| ↑1 | I guess officially it should be ‘KUM’s The Masterpiece’ |
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Belgium. Home of our president, home of The Pencil Case Blog, home of the chips (and moules-frites), home of SG-1’s favourite toy, home of many fantastic comic artists and comic strips [1]from Macherot, Turk, Morris, Hergé, Peyo, …, home of some crazy music and home to some of the best [2]imho notebooks in the world…
…and today is the Belgian National Day!
In a perfect world I’d now show you a picture of a Belgian pencil sharpened with a Belgian blade. Unfortunately I have to make do with no Belgian pencil, but at least some fantastic Belgian paper. For the photo I could even choose between different brands, but I picked Atoma paper. Regarding the blade, I chose a Dutch one, from Apeldoorn – the Netherlands is a neighbour of Belgium. About the pencil, I chose a German one, again it’s a neighbour of Belgium, plus the National Day “commemorates the day on which Leopold I took the constitutional oath as the first King of Belgium, on July 21st 1831” [3]see http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/country/belgium_in_nutshell/symbols/national_holiday/. Leopold I of Belgium was born in Coburg, which is in Franconia – and this pencil was made in Franconia, too. 
References
| ↑1 | from Macherot, Turk, Morris, Hergé, Peyo, … |
|---|---|
| ↑2 | imho |
| ↑3 | see http://www.belgium.be/en/about_belgium/country/belgium_in_nutshell/symbols/national_holiday/ |
Happy Belgian National Day! Read More »
More Noris spotting!
I was lucky enough to spot several Staedtler Noris pencils in the BBC’s national and regional news in the last couple of days. One of the regional news clips was even filmed just around the corner.
…but Sean has sent me an even more exciting Noris spotting:
The 6-part series from the BBC called The Story of England by Michael Wood features Staedtler pencils in several shots. Here’s a photo from this series, featuring a Welsh-made Noris.
I believe that the use of the the screen shot of the Noris pencil, taken from Michael Wood’s Story of England falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.
Noris of the Woods Read More »
As you might have guessed after reading The Noris, then and now or any of the other Seen in the wild posts: I’m always happy when I see the Staedtler Noris on somebody’s desk or in a shop (not really worth a blog post: “Did you know, my local bank is using Noris pencils”) or on telly (probably more interesting for you, so maybe worth a blog post).
Last time I spotted a Noris was in Episode 3 of Uncle. This episode gives you the opportunity to admire the Noris in Nick Helm’s right and left hand and in his mouth (maybe the production company shouldn’t have picked the bacon flavoured Noris).
I believe that the use of the screen shot of the Noris pencil, taken from episode three of the first season of the TV series Uncle falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.
Now that Pencil Revolution mentioned my blog posts featuring pencils on telly I feel I should add some more. Speaking of the Pencil Revolution: I also noticed pencils on Revolution – and I was shocked how carelessly they use the pencils as well as other sparse resources …but then they also didn’t really honour their irreplaceable pencils in Stargate Universe.
You might have noticed that my “Seen in the wild” pencils often mention my favourite pencil, the Noris. This is just because this pencil isn’t that often on TV. If I’d focus on the Ticonderoga I’d have a lot of screenshots to show – a big proportion of Malcolm in the Middle and The Big Bang Theory episodes feature this nice pencil.
So, today the focus is on the Staedtler Noris.
Not yet posted on Bleistift and in chronological order:
1975: Fawlty Towers (British TV series)
In episode 1 they are mainly using Staedtler’s Tradition. In later episodes the Noris is more common. In the second screenshot you can see Basil Fawlty (John Cleese) sharpening his Noris with a knife.
1977: Der Alte (German TV series)
In episode 7 you can see Chief Inspector Köster using a pencil that looks like a Castell 9000, but today is Noris day, so I won’t show the Castell 9000.
1990: House of Cards (British TV series)
They also had some really nice pen trays in House of Cards.
2008: Commissario Montalbano (Italian TV series)
You can see the Noris being used in the Commissario Montalbano episodes Le Ali della Sfinge / The Wings of the Sphinx and La Pista di Sabbia / The Track of Sand in this blog post.
2008: Tatort (German TV series)
You can see the Noris being used in the Tatort episode Liebeswirren in this blog post about the Noris.
2009: Fangavaktin (Icelandic TV series)
You can see the Noris being used in the second episode of Fangavaktin (The Prison Shift) in this blog post.
2009: The Armstrong and Miller Show (British TV series)
You can see the Noris being used in the second season of The Armstrong and Miller Show in this blog post.
2010: Borgen (Danish TV series)
The Danish Prime Minister and his advisor on a trip to England. Each of them has a Staedtler Noris in front of them on the table.
2011: Outnumbered (British TV series)
There is a very small chance that this is a Fox Essentials copy, but I think it’s a Noris – The Fox Essentials has a white eraser.
2012: Episodes (British TV series)
Episodes – again.
2012: Quartet (British film)
I haven’t watched this film, but Sean was kind enough to tell me about it and to send me this screenshot.
2012: The Bletchley Circle (British TV series) (added after this blog post was first published)
Comrade John from the Pencil Revolution sent this screenshot from The Bletchley Circle, a murder mystery set in the famous [1]If you’re into Cryptography or Computer Science you will have heard about it. Bletchley Park in 1952. I’m not sure though they would have used a Noris in H there [2]OK, it doesn’t have to be H – the Malaysian Noris has shown that same colour doesn’t necessarily indicate the same pencil grade. – Staedtler took the Royal Sovereign Group over in the 1970s, so the code breakers would have been more likely to use Wolff’s Royal Sovereign.
2013: Bach: A Passionate Life (British TV documentary) (added after this blog post was first published)
I haven’t watched this documentary either, but Sean was kind enough to tell me about it and to send me this screenshot.
2013:
If you want to see a Noris being tortured you should head over to Bodyform‘s video (if you don’t want to see the horrible bit, skip a few seconds around 1:13). Rad and Hungry‘s boss Hen Chung posted this video on her Facebook page , which was then also shared on Bleistift’s Faceboook Page [3]The one I haven’t mentioned on this blog yet..
The screenshots in this blog post have been taken from different TV series and films, as stated above. I believe that the use of the screenshots shown in this blog post falls under “fair dealing” as described by the UK Copyright service.
I’d like to thank Sean for the Quartet and the Bach: A Passionate Life screenshots.
I’d like to thank John for the The Bletchley Circle screenshot.
You can see more pencils in the wild by following this link.
References
| ↑1 | If you’re into Cryptography or Computer Science you will have heard about it. |
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| ↑2 | OK, it doesn’t have to be H – the Malaysian Noris has shown that same colour doesn’t necessarily indicate the same pencil grade. |
| ↑3 | The one I haven’t mentioned on this blog yet. |
The Noris, then and now Read More »