New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays.

My Thursday MLB Game has the New York Yankees playing the Tampa Bay Rays. The game started about Noon while I was out in the front room on my big brown recliner, away from the computers, waiting for the wife to get home from her job. She's home now, I helped her carry in groceries from the car, and she's taking her midday nap. I'm back in my room, continuing to watch the game on my smaller TV. I now find the Yankees leading 7 to 3 at the top of the 5th inning.

And the adventure continues.

It’s my older son’s last day of summer school and it’s a month of summer break until he starts again sometime in August. I’m glad he’s going to enjoy it. But I know it’s extra work for me.

The fun part is we’ll be going to a few places for all of us to enjoy and spending some quality family time. The drawback is that I won’t be able to write as much. But as a field writer I’ll adapt to my situation.

So if I’m not posting as much for July and August I apologize in advanced. Thank you for your patience and your support.

#writing #children #family #stayathomedad #summer #vacation

The editor of this anthology, who took part and was wounded in the last war to end war, hates war and hates all the politicians whose mismanagement, gullibility, cupidity, selfishness and ambition brought on this present war and made it inevitable. But once we have a war there is only one thing to do. It must be won. For defeat brings worse things than any that can ever happen in a war.

Regardless of how this war was brought on, step by step, in the Democracies’ betrayal of the only countries that fought or were ready to fight to prevent it, there is only one thing now to do. We must win it. We must win it at all costs and as soon as possible. We must win it never forgetting what we are fighting for, in order that while we are fighting Fascism we do not slip into the ideas and ideals of Fascism.

For many years you heard American people speak who admired Mussolini because he made the trains run on time in Italy. It never seemed to occur to them that we made the trains run on time in America without Fascism.

We can fight a total war without becoming totalitarians if we do not stand on our mistakes to try and cover them; our military; our political and our naval mistakes; and learn from the winners; rather than copy the methods of the losers because they have been at the business of losing for so long.

The Germans are not successful because they are supermen. They are simply practical professionals in war who have abandoned all the old theories and shibboleths which had accumulated to such a point that military thought had completely stagnated, and who have developed the practical use of weapons and tactics to the highest point of common sense that has ever been reached. It is at that point that we can take over if no dead hand of last-war thinking lies on the high command; and we can thank the enemy for having done all this preliminary work for us.

— Ernest Hemingway, editor, Men At War, 1942

#Hemingway #history #quotes

Menage a troi – and reality sang

Today it's silent. No irony, no sarcasm, not anymore. Me and George, there's no line. There's a spectrum between fight and banter, and we have left it.

We merely sit as spectators – front row seats – when the stage has shrunk to a spotlight and reality sings the overture. Or the credits. Or both.

Thousands have died all over Europe in the last heatwave. In June. This summer advertised itself with “Fun” (as summers do) and already now the letters have faded on scorched paper.

Reality takes up the mic now. What will it be? Comedy or melodrama? An epic hero's journey or just the afterword?

Neither. Reality signs and the music starts. And George asks me to dance: a Viennese waltz. We turn and turn, and in turns we fear and hope.

But disagreement is a luxurious illusion if certainty seems so much closer. And so in silence we turn. While the music fades. While the spotlight fades. While reality keeps singing. Unheard and ignored in the dark.

i dreamed about her again, not an unusual thing. i guess at this point shes become a recurring guest in my subconscious. she shows up, and then i wake up, and spend an unreasonable amount of time thinking about it, then i go back to sleep hoping ill dream about her again. Today i did, or at least i tried to. Instead, my brain decided it had something much stranger planned. i woke up after that and haven’t done anything since. didnt wash my face, didnt make tea, didnt even bother getting properly awake. ive just been sitting here replaying the whole thing in my head, so im writing it down hope it’ll leave me alone.

The dream started with some sort of event. i dont know what it was supposed to be. it looked like a shopping mall pretending to be a theater. The chairs werent on stairs or row like a normal place, they were built into different levels of the floor in a way that somehow made sense while i was there. i had a camera recording the event for someone, although I couldn’t remember who. at one point somebody tripped and fell, and my first thought was, oh that’ll be funny, so i filmed it. then a little girl walked onto the stage for something involving sweets, i think. she fell too. I remember finding that funny as well. somebody standing beside me looked at me like i was a terrible person, but I didn’t care enough to ask why. the woman i always dream about was there too. At first it felt strange seeing her somewhere so random, then it stopped feeling strange. she belonged there just as much as everyone else did. eventually people started leaving. she was walking with her mother, so i went to say hello. oddly enough i spent more time talking to her mother than i did to her. she asked me what books i liked reading, which was a surprisingly difficult question. i remember thinking that if i answered honestly, she’d probably tell her daughter to stay away from me forever, so i never answered. she smiled anyway and offered to drive me back to my car. i remember thinking I should probably find my housemate first because i came with him, but i got in the car anyway. we drove for what felt like a while until we reached the parking lot, except it was behind a cemetery. there were gravestones everywhere. some had names, some were completely blank, and one of them had a date that hadn’t happened yet. nobody acknowledges it. we just kept walking until we reached my car. then everyone disappeared. not dramatically, i didnt see them leave. they were simply there one second and gone the next. The parking lot was empty. no cars, no people. no voices, not even my housemate. then something screamed inside my head, not beside me, inside it. It hurt so much my ears started ringing. it said something like, “ you should leave. You won’t be able to save them.” i ignored it and walked back inside. the building wasn’t the same anymore. The theater had turned into one of those children’s indoor play areas with bright colours and soft floors, except there wasn’t a single child there. everything was silent. i kept calling for my housemate, for my friend, for her, for her mother, and nobody answered. then, somehow, I knew where everyone had gone. nobody explained it to me. It wasn’t a guess as well. it was just something i suddenly understood. they had all been turned into worms, dead bodies worms. not metaphorically. lierally. The worms crawling under the carpet, inside the walls and hidden beneath the floor were people. their bodies. i started tearing the place apart, looking for them. i ripped carpets open, smashed holes into walls, pulled apart ceiling panels and forced open frozen rooms covered in ice. there were worms everywhere. some were still moving, some were dead, and some were frozen inside blocks of ice. still writhing just enough to let me know they werent completely gone. i remember finding piles of clothes with nothing inside except worms, shoes with worms crawling through the laces, and phones still ringing beside them. then i looked back towards the cemetery outside and somehow i knew exactly what had happened. The graves werent full of bodies. the bodies had become worms. The empty graves were only there so people believed the dead were buried, while the real remains were hidden inside the building. nobody and i mean nobody had actually left. they were all still there, scattered beneath the carpets and inside the walls where nobody would ever think to look. i kept searching until i found this enormous man. He was unbelievably fat, almost swollen, and there was something wrong with his face. it didnt look like there was anyone behind his eyes. he was sitting in front of two cages, inside each cage was a person so thin they looked like they’d been starving for years. every rib showed. their skin barely fit them anymore. The fat man had a large bowl in front of him and was feeding them with his hands. at first it looked like noodles or something equally harmless, but when i got closer i realised the bowl was full of worms. not just worms. people. The people I’d been looking for. The worms were the bodies, and they were keeping them hidden so they could feed them to whoever those two prisoners were. i dont know why. i dont think the dream knew either. it was simply true. i also somehow knew that if the man looked at me or spoke to me, id become one of them. another worm under the carpet waiting to be fed to somebody else. so before he noticed me, i grabbed his mouth shut and poured acid over his face. it hissed. he struggled just enough to shake the room, but he never screamed. when he finally stopped moving, the two prisoners slowly turned towards me. i thought they wanted help. Instead, they opened their mouths impossibly wide and started screaming. not words. Just screaming. it became louder and louder until it sounded exactly like the voice id heard earlier, except it was hundreds of voices at once. my ears hurt so badly i thought they were going to blow up. then somebody grabbed my arm.

and i woke up. Im used to strange dreams. this one just stranger than usual. The problem is, sometimes my dreams happen. not exactly the same way, but close enough to make me wonder if they’re trying to tell me something, this one. though, i dont know it didnt make any sense, my ears still hurt.

Sincerely, I would like a refund on that dream.

Our Father Who art in Heaven Hallowed be Thy name Thy Kingdom come Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven Give us this day our daily Bread And forgive us our trespasses As we forgive those who trespass against us And lead us not into temptation But deliver us from evil

Amen

Jesus is Lord! Come Lord Jesus!

Come Lord Jesus! Christ is Lord!

The Standing Grace (Labour Love and True)

The silver heart warms And it is hers Lights of Devon in May Bits of the golden brown And Sunny in May A torchlight in this repeal Breaking art the random In this remark And his, on day four And Olivet then Two of Earth in his watch The glitter upon our risen fear Nine to deck and cavalry Edges of soft peat And weary of the blue At Sun in the nineties And where return, the horse is me And I am rain for nightsradar Sympathy to knight in her keep Days of war to Ghent And living ran her My love and story Nights for gold but then, A vicious smell Collapsing hand repeal On this day they win And killed my soul I miss her neck in my caress

And beauty was brief I lost her whale and then her sea Us in Heaven- would wait as much in slip In search for why, why the truth- had given us this road And plainly pathed What voice togetherness And sympathy for my partner Less than salt Iron clues in this gear of Wallace And each sympathy by day We lost our call to heed This random knife in her For low to light and Austria Vertigal for this hour The most high hand And into common, our love this held Repeating war by night And the common loon was man And this old of what was In day of poor and peace The bell of Arthur; end day And nights on time But better of I think about her She goes forever,- in the verse that I am And fading bleed Til oats call And Victory Day My white pet in Heaven All forces clear I am a man- at war for seven.

Article written for “Pensamiento Iberoamericano,” a journal published by the Ibero-American General Secretariat. This issue is dedicated to the upcoming 30th Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, to be held in Madrid on November 4 and 5, 2026, under the theme “Ibero-America. Together we build our Community. Together we project it toward the future and toward the world.”

Photo: The New York Times – Water vapor rising from cooling towers at Google’s data center in Santiago, Chile

By Paz Peña, coordinator of the Latin American Institute of Terraforming.

[Spanish version / Portuguese version].

The growing socio-environmental impacts of Artificial Intelligence (AI) are not a matter of efficiency or will; they are the result of an economic and political model centered on a handful of very powerful companies determined to consolidate their power networks and reshape the global economic infrastructure in their favor.

In this context, the question is: what role do Ibero-American governments play, especially when it seems that we are viewed merely as a means of socializing the environmental costs of the AI economy? Amid a turbulent geopolitical landscape in which hegemonic power in the 21st Century will indeed be up for grabs, our countries can find a way forward through strategy, creativity, and solidarity.

An Inconvenient Truth

It’s not a matter of merit; it’s the design of the model: the frenzy surrounding AI is sustained by a narrative of technological determinism and inevitability that presents it as the only possible future, driving governments and investors to fund projects out of fear of being left behind. This is the case in several countries in Ibero-America, which are investing despite having no chance of competing on equal footing: cutting-edge AI depends on specialized chips, intellectual property, and hyperscale data centers concentrated among a small number of external providers. The concentration of resources determines who gains the strategic and economic advantages and who sets the terms for access, pricing, and data governance, widening the gap between creator and consumer nations.

The case of Latam-GPT reflects this situation: although it was presented as a model developed by and for Latin America to strengthen digital sovereignty, it uses Meta’s architecture and is trained on Amazon’s infrastructure. This demonstrates that sovereignty and the ability to compete do not depend solely on model development but also on control over digital infrastructure, data, energy, and the rules that underpin these systems.

This frenzy is designed, on the one hand, to fuel an economic bubble that allows loss-making AI companies to attract venture capital (such as OpenAI, which loses three times as much as it earns), while diverting attention from debates about existential risks or socio-environmental impacts. On the other hand, mass consumption facilitates what Cory Doctorow calls “shittification,” in which platforms first make themselves indispensable to capture users, then aggressively extract value and consolidate their dominance.

The Socio-Environmental Costs of the Model

This AI-frenzy model requires the global expansion of its data centers. Large corporations use this investment to fortify their dominant position and pursue a reverse business model, incurring billions in operating losses while forcing users and smaller competitors into cognitive and infrastructural dependence. This expansion is the material and political foundation that ensures power remains concentrated in an elite capable of sustaining this financial endurance race.

Furthermore, corporations need to plan for a more diverse and strategic distribution of data centers to meet the training and inference needs of models, which require characteristics such as low latency and efficient access to energy, water, and land. This explains why Brazil is home to one-third of Latin America’s data centers, while Chile and Mexico are establishing themselves as emerging markets: their governments offer policy measures to facilitate access to critical resources, including operating within socio-environmental legal loopholes. This loophole allows corporate profits to be privatized while environmental costs are socialized onto local communities and public budgets, in a context of zero public participation, a lack of transparency, and the classification of resource consumption, such as water, as a trade secret.

When discussing their range of socio-environmental impacts, water and energy are key issues. A hyperscale data center can consume up to 19 million liters of water per day for cooling—equivalent to the water use of a city of 50,000 people—a critical issue in regions experiencing water stress. Furthermore, a single AI query requires up to 10 times as much energy as a traditional search. The electricity consumption of data centers in 2025 (448 TWh) could meet the annual household energy needs of the entire population of sub-Saharan Africa for 2.6 years. This overwhelms local grids, has driven up electricity prices for consumers in the United States, and forces a reliance on fossil-fuel power plants to ensure supply.

In this context, some Latin American countries with cleaner energy mixes appear to be attractive destinations; however, this advantage is misleading: large-scale infrastructure is being attracted without a sufficient assessment of its cumulative impacts on energy systems, nor is there any political accountability regarding the power granted to these corporations in our countries’ energy transition.

A Socio-Environmental Policy for AI

Until now, the corporate narrative has been that AI sustainability will be achieved primarily through process efficiency. However, the Jevons Paradox demonstrates that improvements in technological efficiency often lead to an increase in total resource consumption. And while technical improvements exist to reduce environmental impact, they are isolated measures not replicated globally and do little to address the system’s scaling up.

In this context, a socio-environmental policy on AI from Ibero-America should not focus so much on mere efficiency measures or on implementing serious, transparent, and participatory legal frameworks—which, while necessary, are insufficient. A serious socio-environmental policy for AI in Ibero-America must be a digital economic policy that decouples itself from the frenzy surrounding AI and seeks new avenues for economic, human, and environmental sustainability through technological alternatives. This can only be achieved at the regional level, through multilateral dialogue, creativity, and determination. Perhaps this turbulent 21st century, rather than merely a crisis of hegemonies, is also an opportunity for our countries.

#English

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Bref aboiement derrière l’enceinte d’une villa, dite ‟toiture verte”, [à tribord de soi], et passage d’une motocyclette au réservoir mantelé de peluche rose. Le taximan porte une doudoune décolorée, un cachenez noir et des lunettes de plongée. [Soi gravit péniblement la pente jusqu’à petit stade et garage du futur, se faisant face.] À cet instant, de ce lieu-là, on entend peu le fond sonore du trou de la ville qui pourtant machine à plein rendement, mais seulement, tombant des fils électriques, quelques pious pious de moineaux gris.

#Fenêtresurville #Didascalies

In the library of my mind, I browse through heaps of disorded yellow scrolls, some of which seem to be made of papyrus.

I am an inexpert — but patient — librarian trying to bring some order into this dust riddled chaos, even though I am still barred from entering the “forbidden section”

Maybe one fine day…

Anyway.

These pages which crumble too, unless handed with care.

Disappear In a cloud of dust.

There are spells in there of considerable power, tricks I’ve learned throughout the years!

And so to bring order to this chaos, I will now look at one which I have seen, there is a type of warm smile I couldn’t place, but I found the memory to which it belongs, so I’ll write it down now, and sort it later.

---

It was a dark late summer night, I had been drinking champagne straight from the bottle. Had been holding a beer in the other one, and a cigarette between the fingers even though I no longer smoked.

There was a company event, colleagues.

At one point a few weeks earlier, during lunch, a girl who I didn’t know, but who knew some of the others around the table, was talking about having been bullied in school.

There was an anger in her voice, I do not remember exactly what was said, but I reacted to the strong vulgar language.

Then after a while the conversation moved on to other topics, like animal cruelty or how a high carb diet was beneficial and healthy.

Meanwhile, I said nothing.

Now during the night, on this event, I saw her again standing alone by the grill from which smoke rose to the dark sky

I went to her and said

— I was bullied in school too

She looked at me. It took a while for her to place me.

— ”I don’t think it was that bad, though…,” I continued to fill the silence in which I heard only the cracking from the fire, ”…but, I don’t remember anything”.

I think it was the first time I told anyone about the hole in my memory.

— ”are you angry at them?”, she asked

— ”yes”, I said, but I wasn’t really.

— ”I am too, I picture myself hurting them! Murdering then!”

— ”yeah, me too”, but that wasn’t true either.

— ”we’ve gotten our vindications now”, she said

Which was to say that we were both reasonably successful and well paid, having made it still somehow,

— ”that’s true”, I said.

There was a silence,

I saw her turning then to face me, and there, on her face — which had a warm orange glow from the embers — was a smile of compassion, which made me want to cry.

I smiled back, not sure what to say next, so I went to get vegan hot dogs for her, but when I came back, she was gone.

الخميس 24 محرم 1448

إقالة أو استقالة أو عقد ينتهي عند أجله، أو تجربة تنقضي قبل أجلها.

جربت ذلك كله في ثمانية أعوام خلت من مسيرتي المهنية. وكانت النهاية سواء. تسجيل الخروج من البريد وتسليم اللابتوب والخروج من بابٍ دخلت منه في اليوم الأول.

الإخراج من بريد العمل. صورة التقطتها في الساعة السادسة وإحدى وثلاثين دقيقة من نهار الثلاثاء 22 محرم 1448.

حان اليوم الأخير!

ها هو قسم الآي تي (القسم التقني) يخرجك من البريد الإلكتروني، ويمنعونك نظرة أخيرة في سجلك الحافل من رسائل المتابعة والمهمات والاجتماعات الكثيرة.

ستغيب السحابة التي كانت تظلك وكنت تستودعها ملفات الوورد والإكسل ومستندات أخرى شخصية وعملية.

أنت اليوم غريبٌ عن أنظمة علاقات العملاء (CRM) وتخطيط موارد المؤسسة (ERP). غريبٌ كان قريبًا إليها، وممنوعٌ عن الدخول وقد كان يلجها كل يوم.

فلتودع اللابتوب! لقد حان الفراق، وانقضت أيام الوصال، وصار حتمًا عليك أن تدعه بعد أن كنت تحمله إلى كل مكان، وتستعد للاتصال به في كل لحظة. وها أنت تخلص منه بياناتك الشخصية التي امتزجت ببيانات العمل وأسراره.

فلتستعد أيضًا لانقطاع الصلة بالزملاء الذين يودعونك اليوم، ويشيعونك إلى الباب الذي يؤدي إلى مجاهل تختبئ في طيات القدر.

ألست تتسائل حينئذٍ عما يضيع منك في يومك الأخير؟ وهل كنت تملك شيئًا قبل ساعة التجريد من العمل؟

بطاقات غير مجدية. صورة التقطتها لركام من بطاقات العمل وهي الآن بلا عمل. الخميس 24 محرم 1448.

حكاية: هل كنت أملك ما أعمله؟

ذات يومٍ أخير كنت أنتظر إتمام نقل الملفات كلها من اللابتوب إلى بريد شخصي، وقد طال المقام، وأردت أن أودع الزملاء قبل أن أخرج للمرة الأخيرة تقريبًا من الشركة.

قال لي أحدهم: (أليست هذه ملفات العمل؟)

(الملفات التي عملت بها).

(فلماذا تنقلها إليك؟)

(لأنني أنشأتها واستعملتها).

(لكنها ملك الشركة وليس لك أن تنقلها بغير إذن).

(...).

(اصنع ما شئت لكنني أردت أن أنبهك).

لم يكن أحدنا مديرًا على صاحبه، لكنه اختلاف رأيين لا يخلو أحدهما من الصواب والنظر.

الحاسب والبريد وما فيهما من البيانات ملك الشركة، ولها أن تتصرف فيه كما تشاء بحسب العقد.

وللموظف أعمالٌ وملفاتٌ أنشأها وبذل فيها جهده وينبغي أن يكون له نصيبٌ منها دون أن يضر بالشركة أو يفشي أسرارها.

لكنني علمت بعد قليل أن القسم التقني يلقي بذاكرة اللابتوب إلى مجاهل العدم، وأنني لم أستفد كثيرًا -كما ظننت- مما استبقيته من الملفات!

أي شيء تناله الشركة في ساعة التجريد؟

1- اللابتوب.

2- والشاشة ولوحة المفاتيح.

3- والحقيبة.

ولا داعي لذكر البريد أو الحسابات المتعلقة فذلك أول ما ينزع منك عند حلول الأجل.

أي شيء تناله من الشركة بعد ساعة التجريد؟

الحقوق ودفتر وقلم!

وإنني ما زلت أحمد الله على دفترٍ من الورق قيدت فيه يوميات العمل وملاحظاتي وما شهدته في كل اجتماع.

وذلك الدفتر أحب إلي من بريدٍ هائل، وسحابة عظيمة!

لن تأذن الشركة باستعادة الملفات بعد استيداعها في سحائبهم، لكنها لن تتسلط على مسوداتٍ للمخططات والمنجزات.

ما خبر اليوم الثاني؟ صورة التقطتها لإحدى يومياتي. الخميس 24 محرم 1448.

أربعة تعلمت ألا أؤجلها إلى ساعة التجريد

1- تخليص المستندات الشخصية من مستندات العمل.

وميض: سألت مديرًا أن أستخرج ملفاتٍ لي من جهاز صار محظورًا علي، فسألني أن أحصيها في قائمة، وأرسلها إلى القسم التقني. فكيف السبيل ولا سبيل؟

2- وكتابة تقرير عما أنجزته وعما أردت إنجازه.

وميض: تركت التعويل على شهادات الخبرة لما نلت إحداها فلم أجد فيها شهادة صادقة على خبرتي ومعرفتي. وما زلت أطلب تحرير الشهادة وذكر بعض ما أنجزته لتكون شهادة صادقة وافية.

3- وكتابة الرسالة الأخيرة لزملاء العمل.

وميض: عاجلني القسم التقني بقطع الاتصال وكف يدي عن البريد، وكان ينبغي ألا أؤجل الرسالة الأخيرة إلى يوم الغد!

4- وطلب شهادة الخبرة وأي مستند تحتاج إليه في المستقبل.

وميض: شق على زميلٍ سابقٍ أن يستخرج شهادة خبرة. وعلل تأخره بطول العهد. فأدركت أن ساعة التجريد تجردنا من كل شيء حتى طلباتنا الصغيرة!

شهادة لمن يهتم، فمن يهتم؟ صورة التقطتها لإحدى شهادات الخبرة. الخميس 24 محرم 1448.

خلاصة مجردة

قال أحد الشعراء: يمثل ذو اللب في نفسه مصائبه قبل أن تنزلا

فإن نزلت بغتة لم ترعه لما كان في نفسه مثلا

لا تخفف الأيام وطأة النهاية، ولا ترفع عنا وقع ساعة التجريد من، لكنها تبصرنا بحاجتنا إلى تجريد أعمالنا قبل أن نتجرد عنها راغمين!

ولا تدع كتابة الأعمال ما دمت تحمل الورقة والقلم!

أحص ما عملته، وقدر ما صنعته بيديك، فليس ذلك شأن المدير أو الشركة أو أي أحد من الناس سواك أنت.

كلمة مجردة

(بالكتابة جمع القرآن وحفظت الألسن والآثار؛ ووكدت العهود وأثبتت الحقوق، وسيقت التواريخ، وبقيت السكوك، وأمن الإنسان النسيان، وقيدت الشهادات، وأنزل الله في ذلك آية الدين وهي أطول آية في القرآن)

أبو بكر محمد بن يحيى الصولي – أدب الكتاب – المطبعة السلفية 1341 ص24.

وكتب البراء بن محمد

tawasul@albaraaibnm47.com

كاتب مختص بتطوير الأعمال ومهتم بإحياء التقويم الهجري والاكتفاء به.

عصر الخميس لخمسٍ إن بقين من المحرم من عام ثمانية وأربعين وأربع مئة وألف.

فكرة قادمة: تجربة في درء اختلاط الملفات الشخصية بملفات العمل، وتجربة أخرى في تقييد المنجزات.

هامش:

عنوانان بالإنجليزية والفرنسية:

At Last, What We Lost? Reflections

Tenir jusqu’au bout, mais il reste quoi pour le reste ?

Three Parker 51 Clones: Wingsung 601 Demonstrators. Photo by Unattributed, licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.

For those who have seen my posts on c/Fountain Pens, PixelFed, or elsewhere on the FediVerse will know that I have been nearly obsessed with finding a good set of Parker 51 clones. I've had several (from Jinhao and Junlai) that have been disappointing. While they had the look and filling mechanism that I wanted, many of them would fail in terms of writing well, or in drying out. What exacerbated these purchases was that they would all come up when searching for a “Hero 601” on Amazon, which is the pen I'd seen reviewed that was often praised.

(As an aside: I don't use AliExpress[1].)

This time around, I found the Wingsung 601. The Wingsung version has also been praised by many other reviewers, so when I found them on Amazon, with a limited quantity[2] still available, I jumped at the chance to get them. And I am extremely happy that I did.

What I like About the Wingsung 601 Demonstrators

First: Getting to see the filling system in action is just wonderful. I have demonstrator versions of both piston and vacuum filler style pens. And, I have seen pens like the Conid Bulk Filler in operation. But, none of them were as satisfying to watch as a Vacumatic. Watching the ink being sucked up the filler tube and spilling over into the barrel of the pen is just fun to watch. The only thing I wish was that the filler tube could be a bit longer. But, I'm certain there is a balance between the suction force and the length of the filler tube. Even so, the whole thing is just fun to watch.

Second: After filling these three pens with Diamine Oxford Blue, Writer's Blood and Jet Black I started writing with them for about two weeks. I rotated between them frequently, making certain to give them all their due chance to fail. For the most part they were consistently excellent writers. The took well to traveling in my bag, and were just solid performers.

Where I found them most useful was for writing in my Kokuyo B5 notebooks. Unlike the Apica A5 notebooks which have a 7mm rule, which I use for journaling, the B5 notebooks have 6mm ruling. This is actually more of an issue with pens with larger point sizes. My Asvine pens have a .7mm point, and while they write fine in the Kokuyo notebooks, the writing feels a lot more cramped than writing in a 7mm ruled notebook. The Wingsung pens, with their .5mm point made my writing in the B5 notebooks feel a lot more comfortable, less crowded, easier to read.

Third: After spending a couple of weeks with these pens and feeling quite satisfied with their performance I decided to do one more test: dry out. So, I topped off the pens with their respective inks, and put them into a pen stand for two weeks. I stored them nib down, so I could also see if there were any leaks into the pen caps.

The result? All three of them passed with perfect colors (pun intended). In fact, the writing sample in the image was the first thing I wrote with each pen after they had been sitting for two weeks. (Had they failed, I still would have posted that image.) The fact that they worked this nicely is a good indicator that the cap seal is good. And, they didn't leak any ink into the caps while sitting in the stand.

And, in the end that's what you want, isn't it? A pen that you can pick up when you need it and it will write.

What I Didn't like About the Wingsung 601 Demonstrators

I won't claim that these pens are perfect. However, I will say that for a $20 Parker 51 clone with the Vacumatic filler, I find these issues to be quite tiny. But, here they are…

First: Out of the box one needed a bit of adjustment. I don't know where it happened, but one of the pens had a hood and feed alignment issue. This took all of 5–10 seconds to fix, and just required my fingers to manipulate everything into place. But, once adjusted everything worked as I've described in the above section.

Second: I sometimes found it difficult to get the pen at the right angle for writing. This was a matter that with the transparent nib hood light would reflect off it in such a way that I thought it was at the correct angle, but the pen felt scratchy and off. I tried to compensate for this by posting the pen with the clip lined up with the nib, but even then I wasn't always able to get it just right.

Honestly, I think this second issue is likely more of an issue with my eyes. I have allergies that affect my eyes and nose, and it is likely the problem was due to my eyes not focusing quite right.

Conclusion

There is more to like about these pens than the things I listed above. Another thing to like is the size. A lot of people don't want a pen the size of a Montblanc Meisterstucke LeGrand, Pelikan Souveran M100 or an Asvine V800, and a pen this size might be perfect for them. Another advantage (at least for the non-demonstrator version) is for these pens to be quite stealthy. These look more like a Parker Jotter style pen, than they do a fountain pen, until you unsheathe it.

Of course, with the demonstrator version you get the fun of watching it suck up ink when you fill it, and see the ink sloshing around in the barrel once it's filled. And, you always know precisely how much ink is left in the pen, making it easy to know when to refill.

And, as a bonus, Wingsung includes the tools needed to remove the Vacumatic mechanism from the pen for maintenance. But, I don't foresee a need to remove the mechanism for quite some time.

Issues? Only two issues: one really minor adjustment needed, and the other is likely an issue due to my allergies. And I don't see either of these as reasons to not like these pens.

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[1]: I know I could have found both the Wingsung and Hero versions of this pen there. But, I've been ripped off by sellers on AliExpress three times while shopping for keyboard parts, and one time while trying to purchase watches. So, I've sworn to never shop on that site ever again. [2]: There were, if I recall, ten or less of these pens available. Checking today, there are more of the demonstrators, but other versions of these pens have lower quantities available. Newer versions of these pens are also available, but they do not use the Vacumatic filling system, opting for a cartridge / converter system instead.

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Categories: #FountainPens Tags: #pens, #parker, #clone, #wingsung, #chinese, #vacumatic, #demonstrator License: Copyright Unattributed. Licensed under Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0.

This was written for the players since there are many characters and many things happening, sometimes simultaneously. The focus is on the big picture, so players can make informed decisions about their future moves.

• Key events sessions 50 thru 120
• Key events sessions 120 thru 180

Balozkinar’s Corrected Commoners’ Calendar Year 4434

Fall (Goodgrove, Blackmoon, Willowind, Redleaves, Maggotfeast)

• The Return: with the witch Ah'sas gone, adventurers haul as much treasure as they can from the sunken fort. They bury the treasure in two spots. Gomm maps one location, while Nesterin Sylpetor maps the other. Once back in Hara, they learn that the Red Queen has appointed new castellan, of her choice: Tsamar, the Queen of Pirates.
• Justice Supreme: while adventuring, Ambros recovers the Golden Gavel of Justice, becoming a High Priest of Forseti. Red Queen appoints him as the Justice Supreme of Hara.
• Old Debt: party returns to Ketche to complete a geas that was drowning Ambros. They spend rest of the season hunting down Graylock, a gnoll.

Winter (Coldrain, Shadowrath, Gloomfrost, Year's End)

• Operation Cleanup: Tsamar cracks down on thugs and mercenaries commanded by merchant families. Two hundred hardened soldiers—a squadron of heavy horsemen, a squadron of mounted crossbowmen, and a throng of heavy footmen—arrive to serve the new High Priest, Ambros Ap Mortain. They are led by knight Marlon val Brookwood, Jace, and vicar Arlon. Adventurers adventure, raiding an ogre den, a thieves' hideout, and a lair of Flaming Eye bandits.

Balozkinar’s Corrected Commoners’ Calendar Year 4435

Winter (Thawmist, Dewsnap)

• Feeding an Army: Ambros and others pressure young Lord Kyle to pay for protection. In return for gold, land, building a temple, naming Dalkanarion castellan of Cedarwade keep, granting 600 acres to Balarus, and appointing Thorm as Overseer of an iron mine, adventurers will secure Kyle's territories and clear his name.
• The Siege: Ambros and his army, backed by adventurers, besiege Cedarwade Keep. They face bitter resistance in the dungeon underneath it. Adventurers are ultimately victorious, defeating the hobgoblins.
• Glory and Ambition: Ambros and Dalkanarion march the army to Hara, in a show of power and might. Only Ambros is granted audience with the Queen. Dalkanarion is confirmed as castellan of the Cedarwade Keep. Tsamar gives him sixty-five ruffians as “soldiers,” who turn out to be thugs paid by the Namelin family. Nobody is happy. Dalkanarion marries an innkeeper's daughter, and swears to be people's champion.

Spring (Flowerbloom, Sweetrain, Meadowlark, Longrass)

• Hunting Racoba: adventurers follow up on reports of sighting a scrawny person with a pointy hat leading a large gang of unsavory men few leagues north-west of Cedarwade Keep. They split their army in half, leaving some defenders at the keep. Rest march towards the plateau. By the time they arrive the enemy army has left. Adventurers find two entrances into the underground complex. They repeatedly storm it, suffering losses. They vanquish bandits left behind by Racoba. They also learn that they controlled just a small portion of the dungeon.
• Raiding Racoba's Redoubt: army returns to the Cedarwade Keep. Supply chain train is established between the keep, Midway, and Hara, ensuring a flow of food, drink, and coin. Adventurers organise repeat expeditions to the underground complex. They are harried by swimming ghouls. They find Racoba's abandoned sleeping chambers and ransack them. No sight of the fugitive wizard himself. Kho Rimbo explores the second level on his own, returning with valuable information.
• Kyle, Denied; Ambros, Scolded: Lord Kyle pleads with Dalkanarion to spend some of the forces to aid people of Ahyf. Dalkanarion says no—he should petition Hara instead. Ambros communes with Forseti, wishing to delegate his duties. Forseti says no.
• The Recall: Ambros and his army are summoned back to Hara. Select adventurers are left behind and continue raiding Racoba's Redoubt. Upon returning, Ambros finds the city in total pandemonium: Tsamar missing, Aseti Namelin dead, Tangay of Seven Stars dead, and Zenon Coke dead. His immediate attempts to restore order and peace fail, resulting with most of Hara perishing in flames.
• Forged in Blood & Fire: Earani Cor, the Red Queen of Hara, proclaims the Kingdom of Hara, spanning from Midnight Goddess Hills in the north to river Cedarwade to the south. She presents the Seal of Invincible Overlord. Ambros is named Patriarch General, while Marlon is appointed as new castellan. Ambros is given mandate to restore order and hold all merchant families accountable.
• The Artefact: twenty-four adventurers storm the Windowless Tower. Few emerge alive, carrying a powerful artefact called Egg of Desire. Dalkanarion, Heran Marod, and Belegar Grimlisnev gave up their treasure share in return for keeping the egg. The trio takes the shorter route towards Cedarwade Keep, cutting across the territory of cannibal barbarians. They are promptly captured by cannibal barbarians. Ambros has a vision of naked Dalkanarion sacrificed to the Bull God.
• The Impossible Choice: Grand Wizard Klekless Racoba delivers an ultimatum to the Queen: surrender or die. Ambros appoints Marlon to oversee Hara's defense. Then he gathers adventurers and they head out for Ghinarian Hills, rushing to save Dalkanarion.

Summer (Warmshade, Sunstrong, Thistleburn, Harvestime)

• Saving Dalkanarion: adventurers locate the lair of the Bull God tribe. They endure the horrors within. By accident they stumble upon Dalkanarion attempting a daring escape. Lost in the deep caves, they attempt going up. Survivors imitate cannibals by going naked and smearing blood over themselves. Unbeknownst to others, Dalkanarion gets possessed by an evil sword. He slays Tobias the Hobbit, steals his ring of invisibility, and flees. Others escape as the hills begin to quake. Heran Marod, in his dying euphoria, summons the Wrath the Umannah, blasting the lair. Dalkanarion is nowhere to be seen.
• Defeated: survivors retreat to Ahyf. There they learn that Racoba has Hara surrounded. Ambros gathers the strongest adventures and rushes towards Hara. He arrives in time to witness the fall and orgy of violence that follows. Ambros communes and learns that Queen is still alive. They reconvene at the Castle of the Wode. Queen commands Ambros to head back to the Bull God lair. He nominally agrees, but is disillusioned after she and her followers disappear the next morning.
• On the Run: since their adventuring party had been spread out all over the region, Ambros and friends head to Ketche, and then to Ahyf. Scouts learn that Ahyf had fallen as well. Ambros, Marlon, and Mavis are now wanted. Scouts extract few of the adventurers. The party gathers and hides in the ogre den they emptied months ago. They use the rivers to reach Ironburg, a mining thorp sitting at the northernmost border of the kingdom. Klekess Racoba proclaims himself a wizard-king of Hara.
• Another Kyle: Rall Kyle, young Kyle's uncle, rules Ironburg. Kho Rimbo fools him into believing that he is the Eyes of Racoba. Drunkard Rall believes him, which causes him to drive the miners ruthlessly. They eventually rebel and refuse to work.
• Cuddling Crus: Old Crus, a venerable and powerful wizard living in the vicinity of Ironburg, has a curious taste. In exchange for specimen from Woelands he mentors magic-users. Desperate for power, adventurers agree and return to the dungeon atop the Midnight Goddess Hills. They succeed and are allowed access to Crus's expansive library.
• Castle Yukanthur: adventurers discover ruins of Castle Yukanthur four leagues north-east from Ironburg. Yukanthur was a powerful wizard and this was rumored to be his last resort before the fall. Initial delve does not go too well.

Fall (Goodgrove, Blackmoon, Willowind, Redleaves, Maggotfeast)

• Castle Yukanthur: Ignaeus and Ambros lead many expeditions to Castle Yukanthur. The dungeon beneath the ruins is expansive, spanning several levels. Danger and wealth abound, making for a grueling, but rewarding experience.
• Trouble Brewing: Ambros calms the miners, and pacifies Rall Kyle. Adventurers make for nearly one fifth of the thorp's total number of able bodied men, and few dare oppose them in any way. Ambros commissions Xaver, a dwarf junk trader from Ironburg, to procure equipment and supplies from Hara. The dwarf reports that mentioning Ambros “opened many doors” to him.

Winter (Coldrain, Shadowrath, Gloomfrost, Year's End)

• Ambros, Captured: after a punishing expedition, the party is ambushed by Sig of Dostrogoths and his men. They are captured, with Sig claiming to be the new baron of Ironburg. Rupert Ironwill, a cleric of Tyr, accuses Ambros of a number of crimes, including the burning of Hara. Alaric vouches for Ambros. Sig promises Ambros a fair trial and takes him to Ironburg. Rall is found guilty and is drawn and quartered. Kho Rimbo is found guilty for lying and is sentenced to brank's bridle until summer next year. Ambros awaits his trial while others continue adventuring.
• Castle Yukanthur: expeditions to Castle Yukanthur continue. Adventurers push deeper, but their progress is slowed down due to Ambros not being allowed to leave Ironburg. Luckily, he is still available to raise many dead they bring back.

There were other things I could write about today, but I just watched a YouTube video about a guy talking about different drugs that he had tried and ranking them in terms of how much they ruined his life. He spoke with such candor and a pure lack of judgment, one that comes from no sense of moral superiority or a pedestal to stand on. It’s kind of weird for me to describe it this way because it’s someone who is talking about all of the extreme drugs that they were addicted to, but I do think that most humans myself included does some extent have some thing or other that they consider themselves as an expert in to some extent. And I think this is the whole patronizing aspect. But just the way that he spoke about it was meaningful. And I guess I want to capture that in my mind a little bit more intentionally.