Zombies on the Streets of Kansas City

By the way, it appears they want your typewriters.  This is a street poetry producer protecting her prize.  (Ick.  What a word combination.  It is 1:00 AM and I should really give my brain a break.  Mmm... brains....)

Stage blood by the gallon.  What wholesome family fun!

Some people take their characters very seriously.  Point a camera at them and watch the fun!

This was part of a a 15 second head to toe spasm.  Impressive.  And scary.

"Did you say something?  It's hard to hear you over all this moaning!"

Clowns.  Why did it have to be clowns?

Favorite sighting of the evening:  this zombie is contemplating a happy couple inside a mobile photo booth.

A zombie walk through throngs of art lovers is towards the top of my list for fun street shooting.  I live for content rich scenes like this.  Claire came along and loved every minute of it.  We were going to dress up and join the fun, but after laying a new living room floor I was looking a little too much like a zombie to do a good job gimping along with the crowd.  Besides, inside the pack you only see the few participants surrounding you.  I love being on this side of the lens.

All photos were shot on a Canon 60D; some with a wide zoom and most with a 50mm f1.4 or 85mm 1.8.  I am out on travel.  This post is brought to you by the magic of Blogger scheduling.  Please leave a comment after the tone and I will moderate it on my return.

Beeeep!

Metallic Typing and Fictional Mail

I owe the inspiration for this post to two fellow bloggers.  First, I need to commend Ledeaux of Dante's Wardrobe for catalyzing fictional correspondence among our family members.

 http://danteswardrobe.blogspot.com/2012/04/fictional-correspondences-what-are-they.html

Second, I'll give a shout out to Florian at Maschinengeschrieben for showing that typing on aluminum foil can be done.
http://maschinengeschrieben.blogspot.com/2011/11/11112011-1111.html

Before I get to the aluminum foil typing, I need to explain the path to this little exercise.   MEK read the information on fictional correspondence and decided it might be a good way for our family of word nerds to communicate.  Hannah F. and Claire F. readily agreed.

One thing lead to another and a reply to a Dr. Sottenmeyer in the future was required. Why aluminum foil?  Well, it is obviously a superior medium for surviving time transmission.  Duh!  Or something like that...

This aluminum post was brought to you by Olympia!, our perky SM3.  I guessed that the sans italic would translate well to foil.  The trick to getting a clean impression is to use two pieces of paper underneath and one on top.  This sample was done with the ribbon vibrator running.  It takes a harder key strike that way.  Turning the ribbon vibrator off makes the aluminum impression easier but leaves no typed hard copy.  Life is full of tradeoffs.

Olympia says "Click here and look at me!"

But that is not the end of the story.  Sure enough, Dr. Sottenmeyer found the transmission at the research library in 2195 and sent a return package.  It was an elaborate package with instructions on the making of synthetic paper including a sample of the necessary Adamantium.  Addressed to the Scientific American, it arrived on time in the late 1800s.  Like magic, the 1898 Scientific American Cyclopedia was updated by way of an Errata sheet!  Time is fluid that way.

This is one of the most awesome books, ever!  You can download digital copies, but it is not the same experience as browsing 114 year old pages to find recipes for everything including alloys, paint, paper and ink.  Some would say it is an essential post-apocalypse library addition.

This type looks suspiciously like it came from our gold Royal.  Hmm.

In theory, the recipe should eliminate the need for metallic transmission media.  But that assumes the technology of 2012 is as good as that of 2195.  We shall see.

Mysteries of Resonance and Balance

Violins at KC Strings.  The ones in the foreground didn't make the cut.  Shhh... not too loud.  We don't want to hurt their feelings.

Typed on an Olympia SM3 on Patapar Onionskin

We have had the privilege of spending time with passionate people during the dating process.   One of the co-owners of KC Strings turns out to be a friend of a friend.  He spent time with us last weekend.  Passion is an understatement.  Apprenticed at age 12, he has been building violins for over 30 years and obviously loves what he does.  The violin "speed-dating" process was constructive with input from one of his staff members a couple weeks back and him more recently.

The KC Strings violin on top may be the lucky winner.

I had a chance to chat with the owner of Beckmann's while Hannah was trying out instruments and bows.  It is a smaller shop with a very intimate connection to the work space where old instruments are restored and new instruments are built with loving care.  One thing he told me is that violin makers don't really retire.  They just build slower until they can no more.  He absolutely loves his job.

Or perhaps one of the violins from Beckmann's will be the chosen one.  This is Hannah playing in the shop.  It is an intimate space.

Wand... I mean bow tuning area at Beckmann's.

All of these instruments start their lives as blocks of wood.  It takes a skilled hand to build something meaningful.

 This blog isn't always about vintage technology.  But at some point I will do an entry about Hannah's current violin.  It is nothing special  being a catalog violin from a known maker.  However, the maker, Daniel Moinet, and the location and period, Paris, 1944, lend it an interesting back story.  We're thankful to a good friend of the family, Adela, who gave this to her in fifth grade.

By the way, Hannah is the product of public schools with additional instruction.  Unlike some kids that started Suzuki in Kindergarten, she first started orchestra in fifth grade.  We're fortunate that the Olathe school system is committed to its music programs even after almost a decade of cuts to overall school funding.  Got to shout out to them an Olathe Youth Symphony.

Secondary work bench at Beckmann's.

 Most of the violins Hannah tried out were made in the last ten years.  While that isn't vintage technology, modern violins are built upon design principles perfected around 300 years ago.  Other than a few power tools, most of the shaping is done by hand, one wood shaving at a time.  I very much enjoyed talking with the makers.

Finish collection.

The inner sanctum of violin and viola building at Beckmann's.

Hannah finally kicked off her blog with a post towards the beginning of the Great Violin Hunt at
http://thoughtsatfullspeed.blogspot.com/2012/03/how-nerds-spend-their-spring-breaks.html

Addition:  I decided to include some links for both shops.  The information about design principles on the KC Strings site is very enlightening.  Disclaimer:  We are working with these builders on selecting violins from store inventories.  They both create concert grade instruments that cost over $10,000.  Our 8th grader is a long way from there - thank goodness!

Anton Krutz on geometry:  http://www.kcstrings.com/anton-Krutz-geometry
Anton Krutz Bio:  http://www.kcstrings.com/anton-Krutz-introduction
Ken Beckmann Bio:   http://www.beckmannviolins.com/maker/
NPR Story on CAT Scanning a Stradivarius:  NPR Stradivarius Story

Olympia, Typewriter of the Jungle

You can read more about me (and bask in my photographic glory) at
http://vintagetechobsessions.blogspot.com/2011/11/other-olympia-sm3-in-italic.html

P.S.  Grandfather Simplex still hasn't been reassembled.  So many Olympias, so little time.

The Other Olympia SM3 - In Italic!

A painfully boring looking machine made better with gentle cleaning.

Glittery paint - I recommend deep cleaning to bring out the best in otherwise dull Olympia grey.

Clean, informal italic.

When seen in macro, the keys have some glittery stuff imbedded in the plastic.  Was it inert or intentional?

Greetings from the Noisy Ghost

A Tuner's Demise - End of an Interesting Week

And here is the tuner in question.  Nope, not gonna terrorize our neighborhood with this car, again.

Any guesses as to what they will have found in that backpack?

The Torpedo 18 just came out of a box the other day and will need a proper introduction at some time in the future.  Except for the normal typeface, it is officially my favorite typing machine.  I haven't cleaned or lubed it - totally awesome after coming out of someone's closet after several decades.

A windy day with leaves blowing everywhere.  A part of the photo they are.

This actually started as a single post through Tuesday typed with the assistance of Olympia! during a power outage.  I gave up on marking errors as there were simply too many due to typing in the dark.

If you have read this far, you have seen a teaser for my wife's blog.  She is just getting into the routine and most likely will not type her blog (thus not on the Typosphere), so give her some love if you get a chance at:
http://housefullofnerds.blogspot.com/