Editing The Pen Addict 459/transcript (section)

== Ted Lasso Character Meme ==


'''Brad:''' All right. So we're going to start with Ted. Ted right at the top. Ted Lasso. I'm going to say this right now. If you have not seen Ted Lasso, there will be spoilers ahead. We just can't get away from it in this type of topic I'm doing. If you don't want to be spoiled and you think you're going to watch it, I would like fast forward like five minutes. I will spoil your show.

'''Brad:''' Ted is the pilot Kakuno, Myke. Because all I see is the smiley nib on the pilot Kakuno. Ted is not always smiling in this show, but I think people think he is, right? That's his persona, this upbeat, go get them, believe personality. Always has a smile on. So that smiley nib of the pilot Kakuno. And it's a pretty darn good pen too. It's not flashy. It works really well. It knows its job. It knows what it's doing. I feel that's Ted.

'''Myke:''' Yeah, you are doing this in a slightly different way.

'''Brad:''' Oh, yeah?

'''Myke:''' Yeah. So like you are choosing...

'''Brad:''' I'm not doing it aesthetically necessarily.

'''Myke:''' Exactly. And this meme is an aesthetics meme. But I like that you've taken it to that next level. Yeah. And you are doing this as a... Let me tell you about the characteristics of the characters and the pens and what it matches.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. And I think it's a little bit of a combination of both. But I couldn't do it just on a... If I was doing just aesthetics, Ted Lasso would not be the show to pick, right? No. Like, because everyone's in uniform pretty much the entire show. Sure. So I would pick something like Star Wars or whatever and then just pick everyone's Star Wars pen.

'''Myke:''' Where you just pick all the cross pens and you're done.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. Exactly. Which there is one in this list. So yeah. So I did... I thought more about either what pen that they are or what pen they would use, right? So Rebecca is next. So...

'''Myke:''' This is an amazing choice.

'''Brad:''' She is it. Because this was the hardest one. Because she is an extraordinarily complex character. I think maybe the most complex character on the show. Because on one hand, she's very, very good. On one hand, she's very, very bad, right? She's got... Like, she is, you know, maybe into things for the wrong reasons. But she takes those wrong reasons very seriously and has this side to her. But on the other hand, she's really, really great, right? She's awesome. But Rebecca is the rich now owner of the team, of the football club. And she's well put together. Tall, statuesque, blonde. She has a Rolls Royce with a driver. But she's like a powerful, strong woman. But she's super complicated. So I was like, well, what... Like, number one, Rebecca is going to be using, like, a Mont Blanc, right? Like, that's a fact. So she is, like, she's loaded. She's rich. She's just coming off this divorce. She's just out there. But she's going to use, like, a Mont Blanc special edition. She's just not going to use, like, the 149. And I literally had this in my head not knowing that there was a pin of it. But she's the Mont Blanc Marilyn Monroe special edition. And not just from the looks perspective. It's really from a complicated person perspective, right? Like, this Marilyn Monroe is a complex character. Like, you see her in the pictures, right? And she was just a, you know, a supermodel before there were supermodels. But she was a lot more than that and had a really interesting life and had a very, you know, very interesting moments in her life. Very big ups and big downs. And I just thought this was kind of the right fit for Rebecca. So, you think I did okay on that one? Because I really, I struggled with that one.

'''Myke:''' I think it's fantastic. Especially, like, the Marilyn Monroe version. I think it's just, like, the perfect. Because she's got that very classic look about her. Right. Classic star look about her.

'''Brad:''' Right. Right. So, next is Keely.

'''Brad:''' Keely was pretty easy. Except finding, like, the real product that I want. So, I went off the board a little bit. And on Etsy, I found a plush unicorn fluffy pen. Because I'll never forget the time she got hired by Rebecca to do PR for the team. And she came in with her unicorn notebook to get started working. And Keely is all flash. Keely is the, she's the washed up supermodel. So, she still thinks she's, like, the hot young thing. But she knows she's going out. Like, she's aging out of her former job. But she still likes the bright and funny and fluffy and furry. So, I thought, she's the plush unicorn fluffy pen. Like, that's 100%. Nathan was hard. I wanted to make sure to put Nathan in. Because he's also one of the, I think, one of the most interesting characters in the show. Where he is ostensibly the, what do they call it? He's the boot. He's the boot manager. Right? Or what do they call it? The guy that manages the shoes. But basically, he's, like, the clubhouse attendant. That eventually becomes into, like, a big role in an assistant coach. And he is on the outside. Like, he's dead shy. And doesn't talk until you open him up. And then get him saying what he wants. And so, he's kind of like the pilot vanishing point. To where, on the outside, it just looks like a pen. And then, you click that knock. And this point comes out. And it's like, ooh, that's a pen. Nate has it on the inside. And you got to get it out of him. So, I think he's the pilot vanishing point. And not just any pilot vanishing point. I think he's, like, the most basic pilot vanishing point. Like, blue with chrome trim. Right? He's not the black matte sleek pilot vanishing point. He's just, like, the most basic vanishing point. And it's like, oh, yeah, that's a pen. Then click. Then it's like, bam. Oh, my God, Nathan. That was genius. It's like, I had no idea you had it in here.

'''Brad:''' Coach Beard was almost left off the list until my wife yelled at me. She's like, why isn't Beard on there? I was like, okay. I'll put Beard on there. Because it seems too obvious. Like, he's the cross Star Wars Chewbacca pen. Like, he just is. Like, his beard isn't outrageous. And, you know, I guess it's part of the gag. It's like, it's just a name. Like, it doesn't reference necessarily the beard. But he is the cross Star Wars Chewbacca. Just because it kind of looks like him. And, you know, he's also part of the rebellion. Right? Coach Beard is really into what Ted's doing. And he's okay with doing it differently. And he's the partner that everyone needs to have the support. So, it also fits in with Chewbacca's role to Han Solo. Right? So, he is that secondary character that the first character almost couldn't exist without having that support system there. So, I think it's a little bit more than that.

'''Brad:''' Roy Kent is my favorite character in the show. I absolutely adore Roy. His was very hard to come up with. But I think in the end, I didn't give him a pin specifically. I gave Roy an entire brand. Roy is Parker. Like, the entire brand of Parker. He was once great. He was once the best. And now he's on his last leg. He's riding it out. He's not until retirement. He's headed for a Hall of Fame, you know, type of entrant once he retires. But he's not ready to give it up. He's banged up. He's slow. He's getting beat by the young guys.

'''Brad:''' And he's hanging on, though. And he's well-respected. He's beloved. Everyone loves Roy. All the fans, like, they really, really care about Roy. And I think it's like Parker. And I was just going to pin him down to, like, the Parker Dual Fold or the Parker 51 that they were, like, these beloved pins in their heyday. But now they're a little bit of second thought. But they're also hanging on, right? Like, they did the lusters off a little bit. But they're still good. Like, they're still there. They're still kicking. And he's just hanging in there. And I love Roy. He's my favorite. I saved the best for last, Myke. This was the easiest. I love you so much for this. I am so happy with this. And this was the reason why I did the whole thing once I sat down and thought about this for a second. Jamie Tartt. The foil.

'''Brad:''' The kind of glue that a lot of this show runs through for part of it. And getting to some of the solutions and conclusions of why this show hit home with a lot of people. But Jamie is the superficial prima donna. Young buck. Believes in only himself. Can do no wrong. Doesn't care what anyone has to say. He's pretty much an idiot. He's a big fan of himself. He runs around, you know, with his shirt off. He gets, you know, he gets his waxing. He cares about his look. Jamie Tartt is the Graf von Faber-Castell Sparta pen. Jamie Tartt is a pen with abs.

'''Brad:''' And I could not think of a better.

'''Myke:''' Pen of abs.

'''Brad:''' I could not think of a better pen for Jamie Tartt.

'''Myke:''' Pen of abs.

'''Brad:''' So, thank you, Becky, for sending us. Sending me this link. Letting me go on a different tangent with it. But I had fun putting this together. If you all have any shows or selections or anything you want to disagree with me on or give someone else a better pen assignment. Let me know. I would love to hear it. But this was fun. And it makes me laugh. So, I'm glad to do it.

'''Myke:''' All right. This episode is also brought to you by Holo. Holo make incredibly comfortable buckwheat pillows. I don't know if you've ever tried a buckwheat pillow, but it is very different to your regular fluffy pillow. It really supports your head and neck and doesn't collapse under the weight of your head like a traditional pillow would. Holo stays cool and dry compared to feather or foam pillows. Plus, buckwheat tends to breathe more easily, so you're not going to get all warm and humid. You don't have to flip over to the cool side of the pillow anymore because your pillow is always cool. And you can add or remove filling to suit your needs so your pillow can be just the way you like it. People have been sleeping on buckwheat pillows for years. They're really popular in Japan. And also, apparently, they appear on, quote, pillow menus at fancy hotels. I have never seen a pillow menu. I would like to one day see a pillow menu. I have been sleeping on Holo pillows for maybe three years at this point. I would never go back. This is the only type of pillow for me. I get exactly what I want. I stay nice and supported. I find it incredibly comfortable. You know when you kind of, like, do that thing where you bunch up your pillow and you put your head on it? And then your pillow just, like, bleh. They don't do this. You bunch it up, put your head on it, and it all stays exactly where you want it to be. It's so fantastic. I love it. Holo pillows are made in the USA with quality construction and materials. The certified organic cotton case is cut and sewn for durability. And buckwheat is grown and milled in the U.S. as well. You should be curious to try one of these things out by now, and you can. You can sleep on it for 60 nights, and if Holo isn't right for you, you can just send it back for a refund. Go to holopillow.com slash penaddict right now to get your very own buckwheat pillow. That's H-U-L-L-O-P-I-L-L-O-W dot com slash penaddict. And if you buy more than one, they have a special discount of up to $20 off depending on which size you opt for. They have fast free shipping of every order, and 1% of all profits are donated to the Nature Conservancy. Give it a try. If you love it and keep it, if you don't, just send it back. That's holopillow.com slash penaddict. Our thanks to Holo for the support of this show and RelayFM.

'''Brad:''' I can't believe how much I love my Holo pillow.

'''Myke:''' Oh, I didn't know you had one.

'''Brad:''' Yeah, I bought one from there when they first started advertising with us last year sometime. And I was like, all right, I'm going to give this a shot because I hate, like, most pillows, right? Like, pillow shopping is just terrible. And I was like, I'm going to try this because I need a new pillow. And, like, I went in a skeptic and I came out like a super fan. I can't use it. You just get sold forever on these things. Yeah. Like, I'm done.

'''Myke:''' It's kind of no two ways about it.

'''Brad:''' Yep. Yep. So, there you go. Love it. All right, let's hit these Ask TPA. We got a bunch this week. A bunch of good ones.

'''Myke:''' All right, first one this time comes from Craig in the Discord who says, I'm new to fountain pens in the last year. I've mostly seen discussions of nib size with the focus on handwriting until I saw Brad's review of the Robooster Blue Water Ice ink. As someone who loves fountain pen inks for shading, I would love to hear any color or nib size combination you prefer outside of those listed in the post. So, the idea being that nib size seems to be something that's spoken about a lot when it comes to how your handwriting comes out. But nib sizes also have effects for the way that ink shades and stuff like that. So, would there be other recommendations?

'''Brad:''' Yeah. So, to get the most out of, let's just stick with, like, shading properties of a nib. You know, the more ink you can get on the page, the better. But you also don't want the ink to pool, right? So, you want that ink to spread. So, like, a stub nib does the trick of putting a decent amount of ink on the page and then pulling that ink away from itself as you continue to write, if that makes sense. You know, kind of like a squeegee. It's like squeegeeing itself, which allows for different, I guess, ink weights on the page, right? It could be lighter. It could be thicker, depending on, like, if you're picking up the nib from a certain spot. So, stub and cursive italic nibs, anything that's flat across the front is going to show off that shading better because its job is to actually spread the ink while you're writing. Whereas a more rounded tip nib, even, like, if you just take a broad nib, right? It's a rounded tipping nib. You're going to get a ton of ink on the page. And if that ink is going down heavily, you're going to see less shading. You're going to get some because that metal is touching the page and spreading the ink around. But it's more likely, based on the design of the tip of the nib, to leave a more, a wetter line, which gives you less shading. Now, it would give you more sheen in that instance, right? The sheen does well with heavy ink applications. But the shading, you need a thinner, drier ink application to really, really show off and make those ink colors pop. Am I answering the question correctly, you think? I think so. Yeah.

'''Brad:''' So, you know, I find that, like, that's when I get into loving certain blue-black inks. Because most of the time, blue-black inks, people don't get that, right? Well, it's just a blue-black ink, and you just write with it, and you put it on the page, and it looks like, you know, just a regular blue-black ink. But if you get some of those in a stub nib or something like Pilot Roshi Shinkai, when you spread that ink around a little bit, you go, Oh, that's different than what I expected. And then that's where, like, those stub nibs come into play for an ink you wouldn't think would have certain characteristics, like a Shinkai. Or, yeah, like a Shinkai. To where it actually goes, oh, this is an exceptionally special ink. And that's what shows it off.

'''Myke:''' Next question comes from Pulp & Pen. What are your thoughts on the brand Nalwall pens? The low-priced but fancy acrylics with piston fillers that you see on more expensive pens. Is it a great deal? Is it underrated? I don't hear much about them.

'''Brad:''' I think kind of all of the above, like, great deal underrated. I haven't used one, which is weird. Like, I swear I've, like, ordered some or had some on the way, and I've lost track, or maybe I pretended to order it, and I never did. I think they're probably pretty good. They get good reviews. The price point is good. You know, you can get, like, a piston filler for, like, around $40. They look, like, good quality. As far as I can tell on everything I read about them, they have a good customer service, right? They're, like, attentive, like, if there's issues with the pens. And, like, I can't give any more than that because I haven't tested them specifically. But everything I hear is good, positive. They seem like a good value. And I would definitely give them a shot, and I will put them back on my list to make sure I get one or two to check out and do a proper review on. But I'm interested, put it that way.

'''Myke:''' Bijou. Al asks, I'm moving soon. What do I do with all my empty pen boxes? I sure aren't hauling them across nine states.

'''Brad:''' Bonfire.

'''Myke:''' Oh, recycle, Brad.

'''Brad:''' Bonfire. I'm recycling them into the air. Into the air. Is that how that works? Yeah, then we'll use the ash and, like, fertilizer or something. Right, right. I'm just making stuff up at this point. I hate pen boxes. Like, I just do. Like, you're not going to get any good tips from me because Bijou and I have the, the same problem. I don't like pen boxes. I keep them all, right? Because what if I, what if I'm going to sell this pen later, Myke? Which I don't, which I'm not.

'''Myke:''' Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

'''Brad:''' But I keep them and I have two shelves full of pen boxes and they don't stack well and they're just all jammed in there and I hate looking at them. I hate pen boxes. I, Myke, I hate pen boxes. Did you hear? No, I didn't know.

'''Myke:''' I mean, sometimes they're nice. The bigger and fancier the worse. Sometimes they're nice. Sometimes they're nice.

'''Brad:''' Okay. They're never nice. The bigger and fancier they are, the more space they take up to not be used.

'''Brad:''' What good is the big lacquer box that my Aurora 88 came in if it's sitting in the closet?

'''Myke:''' All right. So, pen manufacturers, you've heard it. Brad Dowdy offers a pen from you. Just put a pen in an envelope. No packaging. Just send it to him.

'''Brad:''' I'm good with that. That's how he wants it. The rest of their customers would hate that. They need the fancy. No, just you. They need to pay extra for packaging, Myke.

'''Myke:''' So, if you order a pen from a company now and they listen to the show. Put me on the list. No matter how much a pen costs, straighten an envelope. Just like an envelope you'd put a piece, like a letter into, not even a padded one. Send it to Brad.

'''Brad:''' I'm not even joking. I would check that box.

'''Myke:''' All right.

'''Brad:''' Just a letter in an envelope. Like Aurora, you can knock $50 off my price because I'm paying for that stupid box.

'''Myke:''' It's probably not $50.

'''Brad:''' And it's just sitting there. It's a great box. Don't get me wrong. It's an awesome box. But what is it? But you hate it. What's its function after? I hate having it in my closet.

'''Myke:''' Right. I agree with that part. They take up space.

'''Myke:''' So, what's the point?

'''Myke:''' It's the part of the customer experience.

'''Brad:''' Yeah. It's the initial sale. That's it. It's not for shipping.

'''Myke:''' Well, I mean, maybe sometimes. It's not going to hurt.

'''Brad:''' No. But it's secondary.

'''Myke:''' Yeah.

'''Brad:''' It's not going to hurt. It's part of the sale of the product. And you're paying for it for it to sit in the closet.

'''Myke:''' Yeah. You know my stance on this. Burn it. And last question today comes from Rosemary. Will there ever be a spoke suite where you can get the entire spoke line of pens and pencils together in the same fancy design?

'''Brad:''' One of the things that makes me happy is that Rosemary Orchard is a spoke pen super fan. I love her so much. She's the best.

'''Myke:''' I keep seeing them buy and post them in the Discord. Got like a purple one the other day.

'''Brad:''' Yep. Yep. She's so great. I'm going to try to answer this question because I think the answer is no. But here's why. It's that Brian is one of those mad scientist people where things just happen, then they exist, and then they go away. Right? There's not enough. We would have to take like six months of planning to build out what the spoke suite would be and focus directly on that to make it happen. Where we're just saying, hey, this looks cool. Okay, go. Right? Right? That's just honestly, that's generally how it goes. Brian says, what do you think about this? I say, OMG, I'm going to steal one. And then he makes them and then we sell them. Right? There's not a much deeper thought process than that to say, hey, what if we built this suite of pens to match? But the thought could be, what if we did the pen and pencil set? You know, like you used to get back in the day, you know, when Parker and Waterman and everyone was making like a pen and pencil set with the way we do our pens and pencils. Huh? We might actually could do that. So who knows? But I thought this was a cool question. And a little peek behind how we make things to say that we almost couldn't accomplish this if we tried because that's not how we're built to like make things. But then I think about like, what if we did a pen and pencil combo? That would be cool. So we'll work on that for you, Rosemary.

'''Myke:''' If you'd like to send in a question for a future episode, just send out a tweet with the hashtag AskTPA. Or you can use question mark AskTPA in the RelayFM members Discord. Or also you can send them by email to hello at penaddict.com. If you'd like to find Brad online, you can go to spokedesign.com, penaddict.com and knock.co. You can go to penaddict on Instagram, dowdyism on Twitter, D-O-W-D-Y-I-S-M. And every Tuesday and Thursday at 10 a.m. Eastern time, you can join Brad at twitch.tv slash penaddict. I am iMike, I-M-Y-K-E. I'm back in Mega Studio, baby. I'm going to be here basically all the time now. So I'm going to be doing a stream from here. I think I'm going to be building a keyboard of some description. I may be getting out the soldering iron for the first time in like five months. And it's going to be this Friday, 10.30 a.m. Eastern at mike.live. I hope to see you there. Thank you so much to Holo and Canalea Penco. And we'll be back next week. Until then, say goodbye, Brad. Goodbye, Brad.

[[Category:Podcast Transcripts]]
[[Category:The Pen Addict Podcast Transcript]]