Three Sides, One Show

Last weekend I went to the Triangle Pen Show in Cary, N.C. Generally known as the “Raleigh Pen Show” it’s physically the closest one to me here in Southwest Virginia. I decided to spend the Saturday at the show and arrived a little over two hours of driving later.

It’s not a huge show but that works in its favor since I could cover all the vendors in my single day there. One couldn’t say there were not a lot of pens to see and try. Yes, the candy store metaphor can be used here. Like most shows it runs the whole weekend and has seminars, an auction, and other events scattered throughout. I also got to meet names I’ve only read about like Dr. David Isaacson and Howard Levy which was a pen geek thrill.

My temptations were many but in the end there were a few things on my short list. Dr. Isaacson had several  peacock blue Snorkels for sale. That’s the only Snork color I don’t have yet. Steve Braun showed his very reasonably priced Indian made hard rubber eyedropper pens there. I loved the matte and textured finishes in the ripple patterns. I had a nice conversation with  Rob Morrison and looked closely at a Sheaffer vacuum filler with a stub nib and a clear barrel at his table. Which one did I get? I’ll blog about it some day.

Lastly, but certainly not leastly, I got to meet someone in person who I had only been a friend with on Facebook. She was as nice and interesting in person as online. No “B” movie plot played out and she wasn’t a homicidal maniac who killed fountain pen collectors met on the internet.  Her husband was a great sport and followed her around the show actually taking an interest in the event.

Next show I plan to go to is the one in the Washington, D.C. Supershow. That one will surely tire me out.

Apologies to those who already saw these photos. This post is for the 2 people who might not have.

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Neko Case in Raleigh

The only interior picture I took of the concert that wasn't blurry.
The only interior picture I took of the concert that wasn't blurry.

Last Tuesday we went out on the town (not the town I live in since there isn’t much town to out upon) and saw Neko Case in concert. It took place at the lovely Meymandhi Concert Hall in Raleigh, NC. If you don’t know who Ms. Case is you might recognize her as part of the Canadian band The New Pornographers. In her solo work she veers away from the harder rock sound of that band and instead ranges from honky tonk and country-rock to haunting ballads. In general she’s hard to categorize as a solo artist but is well known for her powerful and lovely voice. When it was announced she was touring in support of her new album Middle Cyclone and a show was to be relatively nearby we made sure to grab some tickets.

Outside Meymandhi Concert Hall.
Outside Meymandhi Concert Hall.

Getting there is not half the fun when you have to drive two hours. Still we had additional motivation for the trek in the form of dinner at the Raleigh Mellow Mushroom location. After overeating and visiting a high end chocolate shop across the street (yay for dark chocolate with chili cream filling) we headed over to the concert. The last time we were there we saw The Swell Season fresh off of winning the Oscar for best song in the movie Once. What was great about both times was ease of parking. You have to love a place where you don’t have to pay too much to literally park across the street.

It’s a classy venue (probably too classy for me!) and the lobby had several bars set up with top-shelf liquors and beers plus big honkin’ cookies for purchase. We beelined over to the T-shirt area so I could pick up the mandatory concert garb.

Mr. Puggy, get out of the way of the shot!
Mr. Puggy, get out of the way of the shot!
Front of Neko Case concert shirt.
Front of Neko Case concert shirt.
Back of shirt being examined by Snuffy.
Back of shirt being examined by Snuffy.

When seated we found the opening act was not really to our liking so we twiddled our thumbs until the main event. Neko made up for that disappointment with a great voice and fantastic set of old and new songs. I was happy to hear cuts from her previous album, Fox Confessor Brings the Flood, which is a favorite of mine. On the down side we had a drunken hooting woman behind us with the amazing gift of projecting her voice with the force of an air horn. After professing her love for Neko several times she went into request mode loudly wishing the song “Prison Girls” be sung immediately since it “kicked ass”. The backup singer on stage had the job of being snarkstress to people like this who yelled by throwing out quips like: “Oh! Let me make a note of that (mimes pen and pad); Raleigh, 4/7/09, ‘You’re awesome’. Got it.”

Overall, a great concert.