We loaded up Bunter and departed for Raleigh before sunup Wednesday morning; it takes 14-15 hours to get there, and we prefer to do the longer half of the route on Wednesday. We drove under a fair amount of rain early on, but by the time we hit New York it was over. The Panera in Bel Air, Maryland, provided a pleasant lunch, and we sacked in for the night in Chester, Virginia.

I've posted in Chatter about what we did Thursday morning, although out of deference for those who consider intimate detail of American Civil War battles to be a yawner I did refrain from describing the purpose, evolutions, and outcome of the Battle of Five Forks. What with the alarums and excursions, we arrived at the Embassy suites in the early midafternoon. There to greet us with warm words and a hug was Linda Jordan, a dear friend and delightful lady, who had signed on to assist Susan Wirth during the show. After checking in, I repaired immediately to the trading room, where I had an opportunity to snag a gorgeous Bexley Cathedral Windows in blue and sterling for a client who had asked us to be on the lookout for cool Bexleys. We also collected some BX802 prototypes in colors that won't be offered officially as well as some Streamlined Watleys in Duofold Red (actually orange, of course) to augment our rapidly waning supply. I spent a delightful afternoon chatting with Howard Levy, Dan Reppert, Susan Wirth (from whom I bought a first-year Tucky set), Tim Pierson, Frank Tedesco, Leigh and Dean Moser, and several others. When 5:30 rolled around, most of us repaired for drinks and more chatter to the atrium for the Happy Hour that seems to be compulsory at pen shows, but only at Raleigh is it free. From there we all toddled upstairs to the pizza party, which was thoroughly enjoyable and which saved us the necessity of finding other sustenance.

Friday was a day to set up leisurely. We worked with a surprising number of people, more than I've ever seen at Raleigh on a Friday. When things wound down, we started to do Happy Hour but ended up being seated in the hotel's restaurant. The food is actually not at all bad there, especially the baby back ribs, but service was so slow that we were in there for more than an hour while our table gradually filled up -- then (!) we were able to order drinks. It was a long dinner...

Saturday was more of the usual, except for a series of events that were decidedly out of the ordinary. I've described those events (and more) in my blog entry from Sunday evening, so I'll forbear from repeating myself. However, the pens I described there have since been photographed officially, and here they are (not exactly in scale with each other):







Go read the blog entry.

Sunday was remarkably busy, a real treat. I wasn't killingly busy, but I didn't have any real time to go pen hunting (see the blog entry to understand why this is a facetious remark). We stayed until the final bell and then packed up and adjourned to the Bonefish Grill for dinner.

Monday we drove to Danbury, Connecticut, sought a decent resto and ended up eating in Chili's. Today we made the final leg, and we are now happily ensconced on Fairmount Heights, I with a Sam Adams and Barbara with a Seventy-Six.

Like virtually everyone else who was at Raleigh this year, we're really hoping that Terry and Ben and Matt will be able to continue this superb show.

The first style SuperSize Waterman 100 year is not tooo shabby. Looks vaguely familiar

d

Second style, my man, not first. Glad you like it. Wanna shoot it at a show? Let me know, I can bring it to DC.

Nope.

First Style Super-Size.

2nd STyle 100-year pen.

Not sure will have camera at Washington. Maybe for day trip to NH

regards

d

Talmudic argument at its hairsplitting finest. But it cannot be a first First Style Super-size, because there is no First Style Super-Size. (The First Style HYP came only in Standard Size.) It's the first (and only) Second Style Super-Size.


Name a date.

OK. Lessee...




This translates roughly into, "Oops, David is correct"?



Of course there can be a First Style Super-Size. "First" refers to an initial item, in context. Per the dictionary...



A specific girl can have her first day in school, even if others have had days in school before.

But we digress.

I made my comment most explicitly. I did not cite your new toy as a first 100-Year Pen.

And, it seems we agree no Super-Size preceded it.

If this then is the... uhhh... first... pen to be called Super Size 100-year, then it is quite reasonable- indeed more than reasonable but explicitly correct- to call it First Style Super Size. Had i called it... say... Super Size first Style 100-Year Pen, then indeed i would have erred.



This is what they call "True but irrelevant". I said nothing about a general case "First Style HYP". I cited the... uhhh... first... of the Supersize pen. How can something be the first style of something, but received objections to calling it... First Style?



No. Perhaps it is a supersized example of a Second Style Hundred Year Pen, but it is a First Style Super-Sized HYP, which- implicitly- is a Second Style HYP.

What you are saying, by analogy, is that a 1958 Plymouth (Second Style) is a 1957 Plymouth (First Style) With Dual Headlights. The '57 Plymouth was the first one with the monster fins, and the '58 is externally identical except for the dual headlights. (The '57 has single headlights and parking lights in that space.) Sorry, but it just doesn't fly. There was no '57 Plymouth with dual headlights, and there was no First Style (single headlights) Super-Size (dual headlights) HYP. There was a first-year Second Style (dual headlights) Super-Size HYP.

Split hairs all you want, employing the finest style of Talmudic argument, but you will still be wrong. Context does not equal content.

I really like the countryside up in Bel Air- it's a nice area.

You fellas make my day. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when you do get together. BTW, thank you both for all that you do for this forum and pen collecting in general. /Craig

Bel Air's a Chevy, not a Plymouth.

Do be aware, if you're not already, that David and I are very good friends, and we are baiting each other out of merriment, not malice.

I'm not splitting any hairs. I've given wholly accurate and non-deceptive description. I've cited a dictionary definition along with the dictionary's example (the wee girl's first day of school), which works as non-FP example. As i don't follow Plymouths, the example you cited i find obscure. The little girl and the fountain pen both are concepts familiar to you, so should stand well with you and on their own.

I hesitate to dive into the Plymouth, as i see profound misdirection in that path, but still...

If i follow your case (and i'm NOT sure i do), one might argue that the 58 is a first-style dual-headlight model, but this case is weakened due to a relatively trivial difference in feature. Indeed, it is the tweak on trim that makes the 2nd Style a 2nd Style. Rather, if Plymouth started as a sedan in 57 but in 58 introduced a coupe that also had (newly) dual headlights, i would be quite comfortable calling a 58 Coupe a "First Style Plymouth Coupe". It would be the first coupe. Peripheral features such as headlights? Well, then we could discuss if the First Style Plymouth Coupe differs from the first style Plymouth.

-d

Baiting shmaiting. Someone hasta keep the guy honest.

-d

You ought to sit down and have dinner at a show with them, like I have....
Enough to make a teetotaler start hitting the sauce...
But as Richard said... they are good friends and have a good time "discussing" stuff....
But generally it is Richard keeping David honest, not the other way around...

Be that as it may, the dialogue is bloody hilarious. Keep it up fellas, "make my day". I'm glad to see that the fine art of hairsplitting hasn't been lost in this cyberworld.