Author: Pete Denison

Aussie Fountain Pen Friends on Facebook

/ Pete Denison / 1 Comment

A couple of months ago, the Fountain Pen Economist Dr Jonathon Deans (Web, Twitter), mentioned in passing how it might be nice if a local discussion group existed for Australian Fountain Pen enthusiasts. More recently on Twitter, he asked the question whether there were any Facebook groups for such people, with my response indicating there were none I was aware of, perhaps with the exception of the one he was about to start — which I said with tongue only half in cheek.

IMG_4823Since then, start it has, with the Fountain Pens Australia group now up and running on Facebook, with Jonathon and fellow fountain pen enthusiast Yagan Kiely (Instagram, Twitter) kicking things off.

Bear in mind that I had not yet taken the plunge into the land of Facebook at the time, having only recently created my profile with the intention of joining the FPA group. A big call, however one I believe will be well worth it. As I write this on a lazy Saturday afternoon, membership numbers have been steadily rising over the course of the day — very pleasing indeed.

What do I hope to get out of being involved in such a group? Much discussion and information sharing around one of my passions — fountain pens. I have seen the power of the internet and social media in disseminating such information through Twitter, Instagram, various pen blogs, and of course avenues such as The Pen Addict podcast.

A Facebook group such as this, with a local focus, is a fantastic opportunity to learn a whole lot more through discussion with like-minded individuals (most of whom are likely to have vastly more experience than myself), yet be sure the content remains highly relevant to the local market. Discussion has already been active in relation to the upcoming Melbourne Pen Show in November.

Although I’ve been writing here for a couple of years now, with a fair portion of content devoted to pens, I do still consider myself a beginner, with much still to learn about fountain pens. I’m fairly sure I’ll be doing more “learning” than “teaching” in such a group, however am very much looking forward to contributing what I can.

So if you are reading this in Australia, are on Facebook (or think it worth joining like myself), and are at all interested in fountain pens, please click this link and set about joining the Fountain Pens Australia group. Be part of what is bound to be a friendly and productive group discussion on a subject myself and many others derive a great amount of joy from.

Wiser Web Wednesday

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Wiser Web Wednesday – a semi-regular link to posts of interest from around the web, by those far wiser than myself:

 

Market Inspector
Although published earlier in the year, I became aware of this list after it was shared by Bean Brewding recently. I have a little browsing to do:
Our Selection of the Best Coffee Blogs – 2015

The Australian – Life
From what I have read, there has long been disagreement over whether Australian grown coffee is of high quality. For every opinion saying it is, there is of course another disputing that fact, and this article is no different. Coffee can certainly be a viable crop, though economically viable? Perhaps another matter:
Australian coffee and chocolate: can they ever be viable?

Vimeo – Pilot Coffee Roasters
Although not to the letter of how I brew mine, I’ve always been a sucker for a well produced coffee how-to video, and this series up on Vimeo from Pilot Coffee Roasters fits the bill nicely. Be sure to check out the Chemex and Aeropress Guides as well:
How to Best Brew a Pourover

Fourfiftytwo
Heidi at fourfiftytwo reviews that iconic instrument — the Lamy 2000, and does a great job. The most interesting thing I find in reading Lamy 2000 reviews is the descriptors used by those who write about it. In saying that, I think this sums it up pretty nicely:

The Lamy 2000 is understated, timeless, sleek, and a joy to write with.

Not sure when, however I’m sure to tackle putting a few words together about the one in my collection — eventually:
Lamy 2000

The Gentleman Stationer
With so many great blue inks out there, how could I resist taking a look at this post from Joe. To concur on the sentiment of best ever I’d have to see it in person, however I must admit, I certainly like what I see in these images:
Ink Review: Bung Box Sapphire (or, the best blue ink ever!)

Eclectidbits
With much discussion around the possible success (or not) of this entry-level piston filler from TWSBI, reviews are now beginning to appear. Upon first sighting the Eco when images began to surface, I remember thinking — I’m not sure if I like the look of that. So again, I’ll leave it to another reviewer to hit the nail squarely on the head:

The TWSBI Eco is not a looker; but there is something about its utilitarian stance that is very appealing

Indeed:
TWSBI Eco Review – smiling!

Too Many Inks
On a blog which could just as well be titled Too Many Birds, some great photos of what amounts to (if my calculations are correct) a little more than half of the Pelikan pens in David’s collection. Simply stunning looking pens masterfully grouped for these images:
Pelikan Pen Porn

Ed Jelley
Although I’m not likely to seek these out online to add to my own collection, I do appreciate the combination of two of my biggest passions. And the white staples? Love it:
Field Notes Starbucks Reserve “Coffee Origins” Review

Banana Moon
…aka Ian Hedley on Instagram. You will easily find Ian’s Instagram account through his blog Pens! Paper! Pencils!. Given the enjoyment I get from this very talented man’s sketches regularly gracing my Instagram feed — I thought you might too:
banana moon

My Productive Mac
Now almost through my reading of the new edition of David Allen’s Getting Things Done, and an avid Omnifocus user, I still read posts such as these. I do find it interesting how others use both the GTD system and Omnifocus:
My OmniFocus Contexts Explained

A Taste of Local Australian Grown Coffee

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IMG_4756My last outing with the crew of Bean Brewding, those staunch advocates of the Brisbane coffee scene, was the Walking Coffee Tour of Fortitude Valley in August 2014, which I wrote a little about here. Now twelve months on, and having seen the “Beans” continue their great run of tours over that period, a recent event over the weekend provided a great opportunity to get involved again.

This time around, a morning of tasting some Australian grown and roasted coffee from Moonshine Coffee Roasters, held at PUK Espresso, at Kangaroo Point — in the shadow of Brisbane’s Story Bridge. Having not had occasion to visit PUK before, I was keen to head along, and also sample some coffee from a local Australian grower and roaster.

Moonshine Coffee Roasters are located (just down the road really) in the hills at Federal, in northern NSW, inland from Byron Bay:

Coffee has been grown and roasted in these hills since before we were born. It’s just been kept a little quiet, the Moonshine way.

I certainly couldn’t think of a better way to start a mild Saturday morning in August than with some Moonshine.

The Coffee

IMG_4750As I arrived at PUK things were kicking off right on time, with a brew of the 2014/15 harvest Natural Process from Moonshine just out of the Aeropress.

I had high hopes the coffee would be good, however was pleasantly surprised with the depth and complexity of flavour. Brewed through the Aeropress, the filter roast on offer was low on acidity, however extremely well-balanced, with medium body and a lovely smooth, creamy mouthfeel – like a velvety coating, which lingered long after the prominent caramel flavour subsided.

Next up, the kind folks at PUK took our orders for a complimentary espresso based coffee which would showcase the Moonshine Blend on offer at the cafe. Mine? A simple espresso of course.

This also gave me a chance to snap a few pics and take in the dry aroma of some of the freshly ground Natural I had just sampled. Nutty and earthy are terms that come to mind, which sometimes can be a little unnerving in a naturally processed coffee, however as I’ve mentioned above, this one was a beauty.

IMG_4766Onwards to the espresso, which was short, thick and dark. Here the taste belied the appearance. I found the espresso quite intriguing. In many ways it was a more concentrated form of the filter brew: mild acidity, medium on body with creamy coating in mouthfeel, with big caramel and chocolate notes. Again, the finish kept on and on. The blend served at PUK contains the locally grown variety from Federal, along with other seasonal offerings from around the globe.

I’ll certainly be back to PUK again very soon, I can guarantee that. It is a calming space, with plenty of shady outdoor seating, friendly staff, and of course great coffee.

So with the morning’s event over, off I went with enough complimentary Moonshine coffee to fuel my Hario V60 filter brews for a few days as well — a nice touch.

The Finish

Another successful Bean Brewding event under my belt, and from discussions on IMG_4767the day with the guys, the local coffee tours will keep rolling on, and there are some new and exciting possibilities also in the pipeline.

If you have an interest in coffee around Brisbane, or just coffee itself, check out Bean Brewding on the web or Facebook for upcoming events, all of which are extremely well supported by local speciality coffee establishments. It is simply a great way to get an inside look and learn from industry experts you may otherwise not have access to in a very non intimidating way.

Thanks to Bean Brewding, PUK Espresso and Moonshine Roasters for an extremely enjoyable morning.

Here’s to the Creators

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Recently I had a fleeting thought about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), as I intermittently do for some reason. Let’s face it, November is not all that far away for those who might be inclined to participate this year. Myself? I won’t be grinding away at the keyboard again this November – with the exception of an occasional blog post of course. Although participating in NaNoWriMo is definitely something I highly recommend, I’ve opted out this year — with 2014 of course being the first time I had opted in.

Which brings me to the few thoughts I had which generated this post.

What about those who never opt out? I read, listen to, and follow many very talented people in this corner of the internet, and you will have already seen links to many of them grace these pages. People I like to think of as creators. People for whom “opting out” is not, well… an option. Those whose living — either in full or in part — is made through their creative work.

Here I am not talking about the overt success stories — the best-selling novelists; the rock stars; the internet sensations. For every one of those, there are a thousand others locked in the knock-down drag-out battle to not only create great work, but to somehow survive by that very means.

Those who sit in front of an empty page, screen, canvas or microphone and produce something great — or not — and if not, keep coming back until they do. Every day without fail, they show up and create. Pushing on, and approaching every day as though it will produce their best scene, verse, or sketch yet.

The faith, hope, and perhaps on some days — the desperation. Those who push through meaningless comparisons, second guessing, and maybe repeated rejections. Those who won’t be stifled. Those who flourish — perhaps in spite of it all. Even if you half-heartedly believe everyone has that killer story inside them somewhere, not everyone has the desire, nor the ability to tell it — and perhaps some who do will never try.

Now in this, my fourth NaNoWriMo inspired post reflecting on last November I ask: did I produce something great? Definitely not (believe me – I’ve read through it). However I did manage to produce — or should I say to create— something I thought I never would: a 55,000 word novel. Although I am now finding the revision and re-write that much harder, lets face it, I really don’t have much riding on it do I? Yet there are many who do.

So here’s to the creators out there.

Whatever you might be working on today (or in November) — keep working. On those tough days? Might I at least encourage you to pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and stand tall. If it looks a little dark and empty ahead? Just keep walking, and above all — blink last.

My previous thoughts on the NaNoWriMo experience:

Wiser Web Wednesday

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Wiser Web Wednesday – a semi-regular link to posts of interest from around the web, by those far wiser than myself:

 

Study Hacks – Cal Newport
An interesting yet valid way to approach your productivity efforts throughout the day. In many ways it is very easy to consider that you’ve failed when things get unavoidably off track – despite the cause often being exactly that – unavoidable.

… judge your day on how well you executed your productivity process, not the details of what you actually produced

Just remember the above quote does not say: “fiddled with your productivity process”. Interrupted? Rework the plan and get going again — as soon as possible:
Deep Habits: Process Trumps Results for Daily Planning

The Ink Blob
While I wouldn’t say it is the best notebook ever (simply because I’d like to think I haven’t found that yet). I was however certainly impressed with my recently filled Rollbahn:
The Best Notebook Ever – A Rollbahn Notebook Review

Nib & Ink
It becomes very easy to exclude all else once you travel down the fountain pen path, however there is an awful lot of great stuff out there — and not all of it has tines on the end:
Review: Schmidt EasyFlow 9000 Refill

Fountain Pen Economics
As far as I am concerned, there is no right or wrong answer as to whether the input of time and effort into a blog is worthy of reward — only your answer. To those seeking a return, I sincerely wish you every success:
Blog Monetisation

On Fountain Pens
Although popular in Germany from what I understand, Online fountain pens seem fairly scarce locally. Having recently come into possession of a model not dissimilar to the subject of Maybelline’s review, I too am impressed with the nib and ease of everyday writing:
Online Vision Fountain Pen

Finer Things in Tech
The slide up banner in Pocket routinely greets me upon opening the iOS app, as chances are reasonably good the most recent addition to my clipboard was a URL. Although on occasion I’ve wished it wasn’t there, I don’t believe I’ve ever even swiped down to dismiss it. So I’d have to agree — it really isn’t intrusive in any way. I for one wouldn’t be disappointed to see it used in other apps:
iOS and Mac devs: Pocket’s non-intrusive “slide-up” banner is a great option for user prompts

Five Senses Coffee
I’ve been reading more and more on espresso brewing parameters recently, which of course include extraction.

Extraction time is a rough indicator of the total amount of content being removed from espresso, but it doesn’t exist in a void and it’s important to understand the other factors interacting with this variable

Some food for thought here:
Contact for content – Exploring Time During Espresso Extraction

Cat and Cloud Coffee Podcast
One of my favourite episodes of this coffee-related podcast so far. I find it’s often the Q&A (someone actually asking what everyone wants to know) or unplanned discussion which provides the greatest opportunity to pick up valuable snippets of knowledge:
Episode 9: Truby and Baca answer your questions