Jump to content


Photo

Dude! Where's My Magazine!

Pennant Subscription MIA

  • Please log in to reply
61 replies to this topic

#1 Pensee

Pensee

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 190 posts
  • LocationSan Antonio, TX

Posted 30 April 2015 - 03:01 PM

Hi everyone

PCA & Pennant OK?

 

Reason I ask is membership renewal coming up & have only received one magazine.  (Winter 2014)

Spring 2015?  Summer 2014?  Fall 2014?  Charlize Theron swimsuit edition?

Anyone else have gap(s) in subscription? 

 

So far, e-mail to Editor, Prez, and VP = no reply.  An e-mail to "AssocEditor" bounced.  : (

 

What gives? 

 

thx

--Bruce



#2 david i

david i

    ADVISOR

  • ADVISORS
  • 7,515 posts
  • LocationEast Coast USA

Posted 30 April 2015 - 03:03 PM

Hi Bruce,

 

A tangential response, but... have you subscribed yet to Paul's Fountain Pen Journal?  You will enjoy, methinks.

 

regards

 

david


David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

Posted Image

#3 gweddig

gweddig

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 128 posts
  • LocationNorthern CA

Posted 30 April 2015 - 05:44 PM

Bruce,

My membership lapsed last fall and I didn't receive any renewal notification, before or after. I only realized it had expired when I didn't get the Pennant. I sent an e-mail to admin@pencollectorsofamerica.com and it was quickly resolved.

 

I speculate that there was a rejiggering of the database, causing the renewal e-mails to be broken.

 

--greg

 

(also second David's recommendation above)


Edited by gweddig, 30 April 2015 - 05:44 PM.


#4 Hugh

Hugh

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 1,878 posts
  • LocationNorthern NSW, Australia

Posted 01 May 2015 - 12:39 AM

I've had a couple since joining, so so as there's long labourious articles of questionable merit by someone who I've decided suffers from NPD . I'm thinking Fountain Pen Journal would be better.


Hugh Cordingley

#5 alfredop

alfredop

    Member

  • Members
  • PipPipPip
  • 61 posts

Posted 01 May 2015 - 04:52 PM

Where can I order the Charlize Theron swimsuit special edition? Thank you Alfredo ;-)

#6 Pensee

Pensee

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 190 posts
  • LocationSan Antonio, TX

Posted 01 May 2015 - 05:45 PM

Hi Bruce,

 

A tangential response, but... have you subscribed yet to Paul's Fountain Pen Journal?  You will enjoy, methinks.

 

regards

 

david

 

Another pen magazine!  Thanks for the tip.  Will have to check it out.

 

Bruce,

My membership lapsed last fall and I didn't receive any renewal notification, before or after. I only realized it had expired when I didn't get the Pennant. I sent an e-mail to admin@pencollectorsofamerica.com and it was quickly resolved.

 

I speculate that there was a rejiggering of the database, causing the renewal e-mails to be broken.

 

--greg

 

(also second David's recommendation above)

 

Ah!  Pays to know who to e-mail.  That's probably what happened since membership had expired by the time I renewed in June.
 

Digression, but does PCA have a suggestion box? 

 

Kind of worried about them.  Webpage: "Projects"---> "Volunteering" / "form" & "Areas of Activity" = 404 error in IE-10 & FF-37

 

I've had a couple since joining, so so as there's long labourious articles of questionable merit by someone who I've decided suffers from NPD . I'm thinking Fountain Pen Journal would be better.

 

 

Hope not!  From what I remember, NPD doesn't have very good prognosis.  Might rub people the wrong way, but honestly don't know why.  Get their feelings hurt, turn more towards self (which rubs people the wrong way) -- kind of a viscious cycle.

 

Anyway that makes it unanimous for Fountain Pen Journal so will definately have a look.

 

And hopefully I'll have a reply from Admin at PCA.  :)

 

best

 

--Bruce



#7 Pensee

Pensee

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 190 posts
  • LocationSan Antonio, TX

Posted 01 May 2015 - 05:59 PM

Where can I order the Charlize Theron swimsuit special edition? Thank you Alfredo ;-)

 

Could've *sworn* I was leafing through pages showing the lovely Mz. Theron on the French Riviera modeling with coveted pen of dreams.

 

Then the alarm clock woke me up.  Hate it when that happens.  ; )



#8 George

George

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 256 posts

Posted 01 May 2015 - 11:38 PM

I've had a couple since joining, so so as there's long labourious articles of questionable merit by someone who I've decided suffers from NPD . I'm thinking Fountain Pen Journal would be better.

 

Hugh,

 

Which PENnant articles in particular are you referring to? What makes you question the merit of certain articles in the PENnant?

 

George



#9 David Nishimura

David Nishimura

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 701 posts

Posted 02 May 2015 - 06:44 PM

I would like to think we could keep personal differences personal.

 

I would also like to think that my pen friends here are big enough to acknowledge work well done, even if they happen to dislike the workman.



#10 david i

david i

    ADVISOR

  • ADVISORS
  • 7,515 posts
  • LocationEast Coast USA

Posted 02 May 2015 - 07:29 PM

Pennant perhaps has set the tone for personalizing differences, starting with the editor's views of those who do not pay money to the pca.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's difficult to understand why someone in our hobby - in which we think nothing of paying hundreds for the objects of our affection - would be too cheap to pay $40 a year to support a non-profit, national organization dedicated to improving the hobby."

There is a mellower and more dignified alternative...
David R. Isaacson MD. Website: VACUMANIA.com for quality old pens with full warranty.
Email: isaacson@frontiernet.net

Posted Image

#11 Jon Veley

Jon Veley

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 169 posts

Posted 02 May 2015 - 09:15 PM

Hello Bruce. I started editing the Pennant last July. I don't believe I've ever received an email from you, and I didnt know you were having a problem until I read this today. Of course I am happy to help resolve this for you, and of course I am happy to mail you copies of any issues you missed.
,
The admin@ address doesn't go to me. Editor@pencollectorsofamerica.com does. You can also use my personal email address, Jveley@jonathanveley.com. My door has been and remains open always for suggestions, comments and concerns.

Edited by Jon Veley, 02 May 2015 - 09:16 PM.


#12 Hugh

Hugh

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 1,878 posts
  • LocationNorthern NSW, Australia

Posted 02 May 2015 - 11:08 PM

 

I've had a couple since joining, so so as there's long labourious articles of questionable merit by someone who I've decided suffers from NPD . I'm thinking Fountain Pen Journal would be better.

 

Hugh,

 

Which PENnant articles in particular are you referring to? What makes you question the merit of certain articles in the PENnant?

 

George

 

 

George,

 

"Blotting out the truth". While it's clear a lot of work has been put into these articles I just found there was so much speculation involved in reaching a lot of the conclusions that it seemed more an exercise in taking known facts and filling in the missing bits with what fitted best. Maybe they're right , maybe not but certainly open to a degree of doubt.

 

Regards

Hugh


Hugh Cordingley

#13 David Nishimura

David Nishimura

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 701 posts

Posted 03 May 2015 - 01:42 AM

The practice of history has been likened to nailing Jello to a wall.

There is always going to be a "degree of doubt" when so much of the possible evidence is lost.

The Waterman articles' authors have also gone far beyond reinterpreting "known facts", since they have uncovered and published a tremendous amount of hard evidence that no one had found before. Their research has been the most important contribution to Waterman history in the last twenty years.



#14 kim

kim

    Newbie

  • Members
  • Pip
  • 1 posts

Posted 03 May 2015 - 07:47 AM

Hi Bruce and all,

 

I've checked and we've been mailing Pennants to you, so I suspect an error in your address in our database.  I will email you now to check on that, see if we can straighten it out.  I've been traveling and missed this discussion until David pointed it out to me.  

 

To all - if you have any problems or questions about PCA membership or pennant delivery, please email me at info@pencollectorsofamerica.com or just directly to kim@penquest.com.  I thought the info@ was all over the PCA website, but I guess that's been changed.  We need to get it back on there - my apologies if you've been inconvenienced!!  

 

PS.  We are completely out of the swimsuit edition, so sorry!  

 

Kim Sosin, PCA assistant 



#15 Hugh

Hugh

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 1,878 posts
  • LocationNorthern NSW, Australia

Posted 03 May 2015 - 11:44 AM

The practice of history has been likened to nailing Jello to a wall.

There is always going to be a "degree of doubt" when so much of the possible evidence is lost.

The Waterman articles' authors have also gone far beyond reinterpreting "known facts", since they have uncovered and published a tremendous amount of hard evidence that no one had found before. Their research has been the most important contribution to Waterman history in the last twenty years.

 

I acknowledge a great deal of time and effort in the project and part 2 ( I didn't see part 1) was a good read but part 3, no. I know nothing about Waterman but about half way it just became clear ( to me) it was more story than fact, that's my take on it. No doubt they uncovered some great stuff but to accept every bit as perfect or correct is a risk.

 

Given the nature of one of the main contributors there is every reason to suspect a fair degree of fiction translated into fact, I actually don't mean this to sound as bad as it does but he likes to be correct on every point and believes he knows every detail and twists facts to fit his view. His track record demonstrates this trait often and not in the best way. Still his last article on the Balance was an excellent A grade piece.

 

On the mag in general it's okay, I could take it or leave it ( PCA membership outside the US comes at a hefty premium). The repair bit's are good. Having had some experience with these type of productions it's always a struggle to get (a variety of) articles and I assume that may be the case with Penant. Likewise covering a large variety of interests in a small magazine poses problems, getting this balance right will have a big impact on the future of the PCA ( for instance the Watermans article may have been better spread over more magazines). I didn't see the production under the previous editor but I will say the last issue was the best of the three I've had.

 

Regards

Hugh


Hugh Cordingley

#16 Norm

Norm

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 237 posts

Posted 03 May 2015 - 03:16 PM

Well I have a lot of questions about the Balance pen article. Like many pen history articles, it implies the feature in question is of  spurious attribution, even out-and-out theft.

 

It is hard to imagine an idea to spring fully formed from one person, but rather to depend on a series of advances.  Fountain pens existed before a feed was developed to make it more functional.  Caps were added to make them more portable and inkwells weren’t needed. Threads were an improvement to portability over slip caps.  Someone thought pocket clips were a good idea, it was quite likely that it was someone else who added a ring top.  Pens with tapers existed with desk pens, why not supply them to portable fountain pens?  Shorter tapers were nice sometimes. Someone thought smaller pens would be good for smaller hands and someone else thought a bigger pen would hold more ink. 

 

No one is thinking Sheaffer a thief for making pens with all these features.  

 

I suspect several pen makers could have gotten their blank parts from the same jobber which explains why there were suspicious similarities between different makers. 

 

Suggesting that two pen companies at opposite ends of a State were practically next-door neighbors in 1928 is overlooking the travel realities of the day.  Many people didn’t own a car and intrastate roads were not even paved.

 

And why did Houston not object to Sheaffer using an almost identical variation of the back end of the pen? Perhaps because it wasn’t Houston’s original idea either.  Tapered pens had been around since dip pens.  Finding one catalog from one company then extending it to assume that it was their own idea is questionable.  If more evidence existed, perhaps it could be shown that several other pen makers offered a similar pen.  It make sense that a tapered pen with a screw on cap would be popular with some writers. 

 

The one thing Sheaffer did do that was it’s own was to taper the cap.  Why write a whole article about what a scheming thing it was for Sheaffer to do such a thing?  



#17 FarmBoy

FarmBoy

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 676 posts
  • LocationSFO USA

Posted 03 May 2015 - 03:58 PM

Interesting.

While creating more work for the editorial staff, how many here would be willing to serve as referees evaluating articles for publication? This is common practice for most scholarly journals.

Perhaps worth discussion here, I know private discussions have been held.

#18 Pensee

Pensee

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 190 posts
  • LocationSan Antonio, TX

Posted 03 May 2015 - 11:39 PM

OK, looks like problem solved or someone is working on it.  This post might be the only one where I can use a dancing bunny.  Thanks for the bunny code Brian!

dancingbunny

My sincere thanks (in alphabetical order) to:
David Isaacson
David Nishimura
Kim Sosin
Jon Veley
Greg "gweddig"

So now that discussion seems to taken a different turn, a few comments / questions.  Sorry if a little long.

 

1.) I thought the Waterman ink blot myth was debunked on L&P around 2008 if not earlier.  Since L&P is gone, I think the article has merit.  Beats a hodge-podge of cut-n-paste posts I have in a 3 ring binder.  Very well documented and an outstanding bit of scholorship by the authors.

2.) File under "No accoutin' for taste."

I like articles (with citations) about pen history-- esp. Waterman.  If some don't--  that's cool.  World would be a boring place if we all liked the same things.

For example, I'm not interested in articles about endless varieties of ink & catchy marketing names that border on a googolplex or Graham's Number.  Who cares!

But just because I'm not interested in ink, doesn't mean I'd hate the guy writing about ink or think less of ink fanciers.  To each his own.

So hopefully we can put up with one another. :)

3.) Open question about history.  Not trolling the history dept.

Is history really a science?  With a background in quantitative research I don't understand how it could be.

Can an Historian use a refutable hypothesis & quantitative analysis?  Solomon 3 & 4 design?  Proven reliable/consistent measure?  Method(s) used in running the data?

I'm guessing that history must fall back on qualitative research.  Suspect imo.  Results can't be applied to the general population, or used to explain physical reality.  I'm very skeptical of "story telling" with no null hypothesis. 

 

"Nailing jello to a wall" is very well put! 

***What are the safeguards for qualitative research in history?  How does one spot cherry picking supporting evidence while conveniently ignoring disconfirmatory evidence?*** 

 

A good textbook on qualitative methods would be helpful if anyone has any suggestions.

 

 

4.) Blind  Review:

 

I like Farmboy's idea.  Wouldn't be necessary for all articles of course-- just the "scholarly" ones that might be controversial.  I'd volunteer.

In closing, thanks for replies & hope everyone has a great week!

--Bruce


Edited by Pensee, 03 May 2015 - 11:42 PM.


#19 David Nishimura

David Nishimura

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 701 posts

Posted 04 May 2015 - 02:11 AM

Glad to hear you're getting it all straightened out, Bruce!

 

As for history, in most cases it isn't science.

Science can and does deal with demonstrable facts, things that can be determined by tests which can then be corroborated by repetition.

In some cases, historical researchers can run such tests when it comes to materials and dating and the like, but in the broader construction of history there are just too many gaps and uncertainties. Much of the practice of history is interpretation.

 

Yes, there are cases where data is cherry-picked to fit a conclusion. A good example is the scandal over the book Arming America. It took a while for it to be discredited, but many scholars smelled a rat from the beginning. They had worked with the same sources ostensibly used by the author, and they knew that they did not support his conclusions.



#20 Jon Veley

Jon Veley

    journeyman

  • Members
  • 169 posts

Posted 04 May 2015 - 04:21 AM

 

***What are the safeguards for qualitative research in history?  How does one spot cherry picking supporting evidence while conveniently ignoring disconfirmatory evidence?*** 

 

--Bruce

 

The Pennant has always had a letters to the editor page, and I actively encourage anyone with evidence refuting anything contained in an article that appears in its pages to write me a letter and tell me about it.  If an error is printed in the Pennant on my watch, it is my top priority to correct it.

 

That being said, based on all of the evidence currently available, both the Blotting out the Truth series and the Balance article present thoroughly researched facts which, to my knowledge, have not been documented before by any other authors.  These facts have led the authors to reasonable conclusions which challenge us to reevaluate accepted collectors' lore.  The ball is now in the court of those who would cling to that lore to substantiate contrary conclusions which are equally supported by facts.

 

A good journalist doesn't tell a reader what to think, but what to think about.  Our authors are outstanding journalists, and I felt privileged to have served as editor as parts 2 and 3 of the "Blotting" series and the Balance article went to press.

 

I would feel equally privileged to edit equally compelling articles from any of you and see them to press, as well.   .






0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users