Inky T O D - Silly Advice

[amberleadavis]

Even though it isn't April 1st, I thought I'd share some of the advice given to me NOT by newbies, but by experienced FPNers. Yes, TRINGLE, this first one was yours...

 

Dear Amber,

After you use the toothbrush to clean the ink out of the nib, do not use the same toothbrush to brush your teeth. Well, dark red teeth look kind of funny.

Tringle.

 

Okay, I admit it, I'm blonde, I'm silly and I am from Las Vegas, but I'm not that blonde or silly (I am possibly that adventurous).

 

 

So, what kinds of silly advice have you received? (The funnier the better).

 

Oh, and yes, I've been watching too much Monty Python.

[setriode]

There is no such thing as too much of the Python. We lawyers need Python as a restorative because much of what we see of life could well be a scene from Monty Python.

Edited September 23, 2014 by setriode

[Lou Erickson]

The correct answer to, "What should my next pen be?" is apparently always "Red Band 51".

[amberleadavis]

The correct answer to, "What should my next pen be?" is apparently always "Red Band 51".

 

 

Just to prove I'm cute but uncultured... those are cigars right?

[Lou Erickson]

 

 

Just to prove I'm cute but uncultured... those are cigars right?

They're not even a cigar shaped pen, really. They're a Parker 51 which was only on the market for a year. They're neither vacumatic nor aerometric; they're a button filler, and it worked badly. Peyton Street has one, if you want to see a picture and read a little about it. RichardsPens big article on the 51 mentions it too, but it's deep in the middle; search for "red band".

 

Someone asking "What's the best pen for $150?" being told a red band 51 is particularly silly, you see.

[napalm]

[TheGreatRoe]

This is not advice that I received, but something I just discovered, this evening--and I think it certainly qualifies as silly.

 

I've found a quick, if less than convenient way to get BayStateBlue off of hands. Earlier today I got a little on my hands while cleaning out a pen. Since then I'd washed a half-dozen times, and scrubbed a couple, but was still left with a few nice smurfy fingers.

 

A few hours later, I'm making dinner. Nothing more than ripping up a little rotisserie chicken to make a sandwich...not really paying attention...when all of a sudden I look down....WHY IS MY CHICKEN BLUE? Yep, something in the chicken--maybe the fat under the skin?--wiped that BSB right off.

 

So there you go: You wanna get BSB off your fingers? Rotisserie Chicken.

[amberleadavis]

This is not advice that I received, but something I just discovered, this evening--and I think it certainly qualifies as silly.

 

I've found a quick, if less than convenient way to get BayStateBlue off of hands. Earlier today I got a little on my hands while cleaning out a pen. Since then I'd washed a half-dozen times, and scrubbed a couple, but was still left with a few nice smurfy fingers.

 

A few hours later, I'm making dinner. Nothing more than ripping up a little rotisserie chicken to make a sandwich...not really paying attention...when all of a sudden I look down....WHY IS MY CHICKEN BLUE? Yep, something in the chicken--maybe the fat under the skin?--wiped that BSB right off.

 

So there you go: You wanna get BSB off your fingers? Rotisserie Chicken.

 

LMAO

[amberleadavis]

 

 

Wow, you are a genius!

[amberleadavis]

They're not even a cigar shaped pen, really. They're a Parker 51 which was only on the market for a year. They're neither vacumatic nor aerometric; they're a button filler, and it worked badly. Peyton Street has one, if you want to see a picture and read a little about it. RichardsPens big article on the 51 mentions it too, but it's deep in the middle; search for "red band".

 

Someone asking "What's the best pen for $150?" being told a red band 51 is particularly silly, you see.

 

 

Wow, that seems like just bad advice, not even silly, but mean.

[setriode]

I present a Motion for the appointment of napalm as Artist Laureate to this network. This degree and honour to be conferred in recognition of demonstrable brilliance and genius.

[Lou Erickson]

I love this. I'm not sure if you'd be a hero or a villain over in the Parker forum, though.

[SeeksAdvice]

Can't think of any.

Only Monty Python I've seen is The Holy Grail.

I tend to be much too serious about things for that stuff.

If I watch TV, anime, etc. it's usually set in fairly dystopic settings and is usually very dark.

[napalm]

I love this. I'm not sure if you'd be a hero or a villain over in the Parker forum, though.

 

Villain for sure.

 

Coming back to the silly "red band 51" answer - how about the question? Isn't it a little bit disconcerting? I witnessed the "$75 best pen" thread these days and I didn't even bother replying. My logic being that currently there's a $89.99 threshold on ebay that, once crossed, allows you to buy a seriously well made Pilot with gold nib, in several models (from the elegant and slightly flashy Stella, through the pocketable Elite 95s, to the classic business looking Custom workhorse, with the Grance also being available from time to time). I guess that if I were to ask "best pen for $85" it would be me asking the wrong question as I would automatically limit myself to either basic steel nib pens or the used market. Just for $5 difference.

 

Here's an interesting article about price:

 

http://conversionxl.com/pricing-experiments-you-might-not-know-but-can-learn-from/

Edited September 24, 2014 by napalm

[colrehogan]

Can't think of any.

Only Monty Python I've seen is The Holy Grail.

I tend to be much too serious about things for that stuff.

If I watch TV, anime, etc. it's usually set in fairly dystopic settings and is usually very dark.

At least you've seen Monty Python. I never had an interest in seeing it.

[amberleadavis]

Can't think of any.

Only Monty Python I've seen is The Holy Grail.

I tend to be much too serious about things for that stuff.

If I watch TV, anime, etc. it's usually set in fairly dystopic settings and is usually very dark.

 

 

This is the one that got me. Watch until they take the suspect / defendant away.

 

[amberleadavis]

I present a Motion for the appointment of napalm as Artist Laureate to this network. This degree and honour to be conferred in recognition of demonstrable brilliance and genius.

 

I second that motion.

[Fullangr]

Silliest advice I ever got, bar none, was 'stick with Parker, they're the best out there, and if they don't make it, it's not worth having'. My calligraphy pens beg to differ, as does my ever-growing non-Parker ink collection

[Jared]

You get what you pay for...in pens.

 

At some point the expensive pen is more jewelry than functionality.

[SeeksAdvice]

Well, anything has its upper limits in terms of "you get what you pay for." For example, I mean do you *really* get that much more going from a Mercedes S500 to an S600? Some of the really expensive pens are, IMO, ugly. There are a few that are even tacky. Once they have reached the point of sticking jewels, etc. on them, that's a real turn-off for me. If you take say an MB149 and stick a diamond on the top, does that really do anything more for the ability of the pen to write?

But, within reason, you do get what you pay for. I have had *none* of the problems with my M400, M800, M1000 that I've had with my TWSBI's or even the M200 Demo I sent back to FPH. Minus the damage from a couple of drops (pen seems to be cursed), my Sailor Pro Gear Realo hasn't given me any issues either. Apart from being "entertaining" to clean, my Pilot VP has been trouble free compared to the TWSBI's. Heck, my old Keene FP, which I'm sure cost way more back in the day when adjusted for inflation than the TWSBI product, out performs it.

I have had Monteverde, TWSBI, Waterman, Parker, Shaeffer, Platinum, Pelikan (sale), and Pilot pens in the under $100 category. They all seemed to share one or more characteristics: not reliable; scratchiness; build quality issues; materials quality issues; poor fit/finish; generally unsatisfactory performance. As a caveat ... for me, Pelikans of any price range do seem to have the magical ability to unscrew themselves in shirt pockets.

Perhaps, maybe, for example, an MB149 is the true pinnacle of FP engineering (don't know, don't own one). Maybe you really do get that much "more" compared to say an M800 or M1000, I would assume that you would get way more than a TWSBI. However, once things start getting added, like diamonds to it, it just becomes expensive window dressing. And I'm not just singling out MB, almost all major pen makers, and some minor ones, seem to have over-the-top "writing instruments" that really don't seem fitted to the task.