Fanfold Blast from the Past

I've been cleaning out my office in preparation for a major overhaul, something that's been sorely needed for years. In the process of doing so, one obviously comes across items you've forgotten about. Today was one of those days, when I came across this handmade fanfold paper dispenser. The paper is from sheets torn off a letter-writing pad, then taped together, fanfold style, with blue painters masking tape. The photo above was with the paper threaded into the Olympia SF.

I remember doing this some years ago, but had forgotten about it until today. And what do I find typed on the first sheet of the pack, but this ad hoc piece of writing, dated from May 8, 2018, typed on the Royal QDL named Adobe Rose, that I'd just then acquired. I thought it would be fun to post this "blast from the past" just to see what I was up to back then.



I thought the piece was rather funny; but I especially like it for the freedom of creative thought that it represents. Sometimes it's hard to know where you are, mentally and creatively, when you're in the midst of it all. But being able to take a step back and look at something from the past gives a person enough distance to see how different they were back then. I like what I wrote, and wonder if today I can channel that kind of spontaneous creativity at will. I think the answer to that question is just to do it, more and more. Sit down at the machine and let the words spill out.

Here is Adobe Rose; I don't have very many shots of her, evidence that she spends too much time in the closet. Time to remedy that.

Sunday Morning Typing

I spent several hours cleaning and adjusting Adobe Rose. I removed the side panels of the carriage to do some cleaning, then removed the platen and feed rollers, scrubbing them with alcohol so as to get a bit better grip on the paper. She'll be needing to get the rollers and platen covered in new rubber at some future date.

I also spent some time doing subtle adjustments to some of the type bars, to help correct some misalignment issues. It's not perfect, but better than before.

Fall 2019 ABQ Type-Out and Torpedo 18

I'm past due for a blog update, so here's a combined posting including two separate pieces.



Several weeks ago we had our fall Type-Out event hosted by Pennysmiths Paper. Here' my report, typed on Adobe Rose, the Royal QDL:



Here's my video of the event:



Several weeks ago I received from JJ Short & Sons the re-covered platen for my Torpedo 18, that Kevin Kittle had given me a few months ago. This machine was in less than pristine condition. I spent the last few days working on installing the platen and getting the machine back to good working order. Here's my report:



And here's the video on servicing the Torpedo:



If I interpret the data correctly, the Typewriter Data Base indicates this machine was made in 1961. By appearance and comparing with photos on eBay I'm pretty sure it's a model 18. The machine came with no case or literature, though the rear plate indicates Remington Rand, made in Western Germany.

I like the feel of the keys and the action. Hopefully it'll remain a reliable machine to use, which implies I need to put it through its paces, as often with these extensive repairs, especially ones involving the escapement, it's best to reserve judgement until you've spent some time with the machine, as intermittent problems can arise. For example, since creating the video, I've noticed the carriage is a bit sluggish when tabbing, evidence that the tab brake needs more degreasing. And that newly opened brown nylon ribbon is a bit light of imprint; I'm thinking of swapping it for a black/red. I happen to have some adding machine ribbons that I want to try out. These are shorter than the standard 16 yard typewriter ribbon, and come in smaller sized plastic spools, so I'll have to do some respooling; but they're supposed to be heavier inked than typewriter ribbons. I'd like to see if the light imprint is the machine or the ribbon.

It's a Done Deal

Post-Script: I did the final typing of the story on Adobe Rose, the Royal QDL, seen above. Though it had a partly used silk ribbon, I ended up swapping out the ribbon mid-story for the fresh ribbon Bill Wahl had installed in my Hermes Rocket. Also, the type alignment of the Royal isn't perfect, though it hasn't bothered me in the past; but for some reason I felt self-conscious about it, thinking the imprint needs to be as "professional" as possible. And then I was reminded by John Lewis, my local typewriter repairman, whom I visited this morning, that it's a manual typewriter after all - it's not supposed to look perfect! I like John's fresh perspective on things.

I suppose if I knew for certain that the story was top-notch, I'd be less worried about the aesthetics of its typewritten appearance. Oh well.

Today I placed a visit to Rust is Gold Coffee, to touch base and remind them that our ABQwerty Type Writer Society will be meeting there this coming Sunday, at 12:00 noon. I brought my Triumph Norm 6, upon which to type a few notes, and they loved the machine, especially considering they are a motorcycle-themed coffee shop, and there's a connection between the German Triumph typewriter firm and the British Triumph auto/motorcycle company. I permitted Sara to take some photos of the machine, for use in marketing their coffee shop. She's the gal I'd sold one of my Royal Mercury machines to, and I'm happy to announce that she's been doing lots of typing on it, even taking up virtually permanent space on her kitchen table. She loves typing on it, says there's something about a manual typewriter that brings out the creativity in her. I'm pleased that she's finding good use for the machine.

This typecast was done via iPhone 6s, instead of my flatbed scanner. I've used an iPod Touch previously, usually while on vacation, away from my scanner, and the results have been marginal. But I like what the iPhone produces, at least under my bright video table lights. Gives me less reason to rely on the scanner.

I'd used a backing sheet of paper while typing this piece in the Olivetti Underwood 21, and I noticed afterward that I could see the imprint rather distinctly in the backing sheet. So I took a no.2 pencil and did a rubbing, to reveal the imprint thusly:



I've boosted the contrast of the image a bit, but in person the rubbing is very readable, which gives me pause to consider that, in the event typewriter ribbons become scarce in the future, a charcoal rubbing might suffice. Not exactly steganography, since you can easily see the imprint with adequate side-lighting, but an interesting effect. I need to try this again with just one sheet of paper in the stencil mode, and rub with a real charcoal pencil.

I was reminded yesterday that I'm now in two cassette tape letter exchanges. I need to remember to bring a recorder with me when running errands, so as to take advantage of location sounds that make such taped letters so much more interesting.

With the help of one of my YouTube viewers I've found a solution to the problem of why I couldn't post comments to blogs hosted on Blogger, on my Mac computer. The reason had to do with a setting in Safari browser dealing with cross-site tracking. Yesterday I did a typewriter blog comment blitz, catching up on many blogs I've wanted to comment but couldn't.

Earlier in this post I mentioned placing a visit to John Lewis's shop. He has a pristine, fully restored Underwood No.5 for sale. The black paint shines, all the decals are virtually new, the nickel/chrome trim is immaculate, the key top legends are fully redone - and the platen is freshly recovered. I took it for a test typing, and boy was I impressed, I can truly touch-type on it with ease, and the spacing of the keys is ideal for my hands. If it sounds like I'd like to buy it, you're correct. But he's asking a pretty penny for it, considering all the work he's put into it, and that it's been professionally restored. Still, what a temptation. One obstacle for me is where to put it, since, unlike portables, these don't have cases. I'd have to find a permanent writing location. Or, like I've done with my Burroughs Comptometer, that's too large to store permanently on my desk, I found a high-quality plastic box with a gasket-sealed lid. I lined the box with foam rubber, secured the calculating machine in a plastic bag and secured it inside the dust-proof box via the gasket-sealed lid, so it can be stored in less than ideal conditions when not in use. I'd have to find a similar solution for the Underwood, were I to acquire it. There's also the little matter of explaining all this to my better half. But, at least she's been bitten by the typewriter bug, with her claiming ownership of the Olympia SM3, so perhaps there's less convincing needed than I think. Do I really need another typewriter? No. Do I need this Underwood 5? Yes!

PPS: Be sure to check out this typewriter-themed blog, Madam Mayo. There's a link to her older blog that goes all the way back to 2006. Nice to find more typewriter bloggers.

Sporting Silk

Post-Script: Of course, I haven't tried every ribbon supplier out there, so there's more exploration to do. One of my YouTube viewers suggested an Etsy supplier of cotton ribbons, which I'll have to try out and review. Another suggested FJA Products, another good supplier.

Blog articles like this one aren't spectacularly informative, but they do represent the ongoing lifestyle of a typewriter aficionado, living with these machines, taking them to the cigar store lounge to write a blog article about taking a typewriter to the cigar store lounge. Self-referential, yes; but I think it's an important aspect of typewriter culture, documenting how we live with, and use, these mechanical wonders, mundane as that might seem.

On a technical note, I like to fold this green engineering paper in half when typing a narrow column for this blog, especially with the Rocket's 13 CPI typeface. So the left edge is creased and the right is open, when threaded through the platen rollers. But the right side must have fed faster than the left, because in the scan you can see the lines of text start out at the top slanted toward the left and end up slanted toward the right at the bottom of the page. Probably some subtle pressure roller issue in the carriage, but nothing that's going to keep me up at night. I should be just left the paper unfolded and used a backing sheet.

In the resulting video, linked below, I have some wonky audio issues, caused partly by a weak battery in my dynamic mic's preamp, which spoiled the video's overall quality, since audio is so important of an aspect to video. I tried to even out the clips' levels, but it's still rather awful. I need to take better care next time.

I have a number of video projects needing to be made, but my time these days has been occupied with edits and rewrites for my Cold Hard Type short story project. I've also been holding off on another typing assignment until the deadline has passed, because I know a number of participants to the series that are also in the midst of writing their Cold Hard Type stories.

Last night I spent hours typing changes to the story on my Royal QDL, while today I once again broke out the Olympia SM3 to type a neat copy incorporating all the changes thus far. While the Royal is a darned good machine, the SM3 is yet a cut above.

I hope to get one more video done this week. Wish me luck, and that the quality will be up to par.

Family Reunion

Post-Script: This was fun. Not just trying to make a self-portrait, but more so the gathering of the typing clan. Do typewriters travel in clans, flocks or gaggles? Hmm. Bunches? Troves? That's more alliterative. Yes, a trove of typers. So be it then. As for the portraits, I ended up with these two:




Also captured some nice "B-roll" footage of the trove.

Typecast on Adobe Rose, the Royal QDL, onto the backside of the recently acquired 4-3/8" wide thermal paper. About perfect width for blogging with elite-sized font.

Here's the video about this shoot:



Today I spent hours making test exposures with my various video cameras, trying out various settings, then uploading the footage repeatedly to my computer and viewing full-screen on my monitor. I'm trying to optimize my video quality. I keep wanting to use the little Canon Vixia 800 camcorder, as I like the form factor and it has good image stabilization. But the video quality just doesn't keep up. Some of the footage in yesterday's video was shot with the Canon and I wished I'd used one of the Lumix cameras instead.

The el cheapo "Ape Man" Go Pro knockoff camera is really small, but has a fish-eye field of view and rather cruddy image quality. I wish someone like Go Pro made one with a flip-up screen and external mic input for vlogging. And better image quality, like the Sony RX0.

The older Panasonic GH-3 has the best 1080P files of the four cameras, but it doesn't have as good of autofocus or dynamic range. The even older G5 has the best colors on its LCD screen but the results don't hold up once imported to the computer. The newer G7 has the best dynamic range and auto focus but the colors tend to be a bit orange, and its 1080P isn't as good as the GH3. But it also has cropped 4K, so that's what it's primary use is for.

As for lenses, the 14-42 kit lens has optical image stabilization but its F/3.5 maximum aperture is a bit slow for dim lighting; whereas the 14/2.5 is faster in low light but lacks OIS. I probably need to bite the bullet and fork over some big bucks for a constant aperture stabilized f/2.5 pro lens. The OIS isn't important for stationary shooting in my office studio, but for moving-around scenes, like this typewriter shoot, I really need better stabilization while maintaining a fast aperture. I don't think Santa will be dropping one down the chimney any time soon, however. Plus, our gas stoves' chimneys are rather narrow. Santa's a big boy, last time I checked.

Oh, well. As George Carlin once said, "you can't have everything - where would you put it?" Probably next to all the typewriters.

Now I have to work on Christmas cards. Yes, I'm running late again. I want to type up some letters to go along with them. Wish me luck.

Fall 2018 ABQ Typewriter Fiesta

Post-Script: Months ago, I'd started recording footage intended to be used in a video about the behind-the-scenes planning that goes into organizing a typewriter event. I'm not sure I'll make that video, as the quality of the footage is subpar, but at least I have those scenes available for personal reflection. I do want to eventually make a how-to video, as I'm certain there are others out there who want to organize a typewriter event in their area and perhaps don't know where to start.

We had a sizable assortment of electric machines this time, including an IBM Selectric II; Olympia Report Electronic; 5-series Smith-Corona Electric; 6-series Smith-Corona Coronet Automatic 12; Smith-Corona daisy wheel from the 1980s; and an IBM Wheelwriter. The electric machines seem to attract "ordinary", non-enthusiast people, as many of them make comments that they are reminded of high school typing classes.
As indicated in this video (see embedded link at the top), these Type-In events have seen mainly "regular" folk from the community attend, who might have a casual interest in typewriters but wouldn't necessarily be considered part of the Typosphere, or typewriter fanatics. Therefore I tend to choose machines for the event that are better suited to novices, reliable workhorses, rather than more exotic or fragile specimens, such as my Rooy. But I'm hoping in the next year we can begin to grow a more typewriter-focused social group in the community, with more people participating in organizing these events.

Having said that, I continue to be amazed at finding "hidden" typewriter collectors in the community, people who may not be connected via social media to the larger Typosphere. One such gentleman showed up early for the event, an elderly man and his wife, who's been collecting for many years and retains almost 30 machines. Would the term "crypto-typer" be appropriate? Hmm, perhaps I've just made up a new word. I look forward to making connections with more such crypto-types in the coming months.

Our friend Jerrel showed up again, this time with a handful of standard uprights, including his latest, an L.C. Smith. He's quite a young man for having such a collection of older machines. I look forward to seeing what he does in the coming months.

As I observed ordinary people from the community interacting with these machines, it once again had me thinking about the lifecycle of typewriters, and the intrinsic fragility of the remaining fleet of machines still out there. There seems to be a growing interest in them, fueled by events such as this, yet the total number of machines isn't being supplanted with newly built machines of acceptable quality. So it will be natural to expect them, in the coming years, to become more rare and valued. I hope we can save as many of them as we can for posterity.

A big thank you goes out to Kevin and Andrea Kittle, and the staff at Pennysmiths Paper, for all the help they provided in planning this event. I'm looking forward to the April 2019 event.

Typecast via Adobe Rose.

PPS: I wanted to talk about blogging, and specifically Blogger. I've been having problems leaving comments on other Blogger-based typewriter blogs. Maybe it's my computer, or browser (Safari), but many such blogs only offer a "Google ID" login, which doesn't work for me. Other blogs offer an option of a name/user ID login, which does usually work. From mobile iOS devices, I usually can't leave a comment on a Blogger-based blog, even when properly logged in to my Blogger account. I have no such issues when commenting to WordPress-based blogs, as long as I log into WordPress first.

Perhaps this is a tinfoil hat rant, but is Google trying to kill Blogger, or merely allowing it to decay into irrelevance? Or maybe I just need to try another browser? Despite the preponderance of social media like Basefook, I still find blogging to be far superior, for what we need it to do. Let me know in the comments below what you think. If you can leave a comment, that is!

Leaves of Autumn

The time is short - go out, collect some suitable leaves and try this yourself, then report back. I'd love to see what others do with this idea.

Here's a video on leaf-typing:



Typecast via Adobe Rose.

"You Jay Tee You"

Post-Script: I didn't mention that I've been collecting Albertsons grocery store receipts. Because the backsides are clear of any adverts, making for "free" (ignoring the cost of groceries) narrow-column typing paper for poetry and prose alike, particularly with the new old-stock silk ribbon in Adobe Rose, the Royal QDL, whose elite font works well for the 3-1/8" wide thermal paper.



Since this is a UJTU blog article, I should mention that I recently finished reading Daniel Ellsberg's The Doomsday Machine. While he's well known for having released the Pentagon Papers, a cache of documents relating to the Vietnam conflict, his original intention was to release a vast trove of documents concerning nuclear preparedness. But in the aftermath of the Pentagon Papers scandal he buried, then lost, that trove of documents. This new book is both a personal history and about what he was able to retrieve, via FOIA documents and through his own personal recollection of having worked as a Rand Corporation contractor in the early 1960s, with access to the highest level of nuclear secrets by any civilian outside government.

What I found troubling was in the early 1960s theater commanders had been given, since Eisenhower's time, permission to initiate nuclear weapons release independent of the President. It was only later that permissive action links (PALs) were developed to, among other reasons, restore control of such weapons back into the hands of civilian leadership.

Ellsberg makes a convincing argument that Hiroshima and Nagasaki were an inevitability, given that mass bombing of civilians was already an accepted reality, such as the massive fire bombings of Tokyo and other Japanese cities in the weeks and months previous. While he credits Britain with starting the policy of engaging civilians in wartime though aerial bombing, he ignores the German Zeppelin bombings of England in WWI, and the bombing of Guernica by Germany during the Spanish Civil War. There's also the long history of laying siege to cities and starving out whole civilian populations. War has never been nice, history shows.

His point is that what we came to know during the Cold War as nuclear terror was the result of policies intentionally created for the purpose of inflicting mass civilian casualties, already in effect since WWII prior to the nuclear age. The intention was already in place within the leadership of the Pentagon, he argues; what the reality of nuclear weapons did was enable that intention on a global scale. Certainly food for thought.

I suspect I already know what Ellsberg's critics will say, charging him with taking sides against his own country. However provocative his views, his is a revision to the conventional history of the nuclear age well worth considering.

Post Power Outage Blues

Post-Script: Electricity is something we tend to take for granted, until it no longer is. While I tend not be much of a survivalist by nature, it is food for thought. Perhaps a backup generator, maybe some candles & lanterns. But I stop at MREs and freeze-dried foods. I'll live on canned tuna and peanut butter sandwiches, until the utilities get straightened out. Because I have inordinate faith in the crumbling social infrastructure. Call me naive.

Here in the high desert we haven't faced much in the way of natural disaster, like the coastal areas in hurricane country have. Maybe our challenge in the future will instead be fresh water.

It's a Tape Series!

The Tape Project as it stands today:

On Tape:


On a Piece of Ground:


The Tape Project - Episode 2:

Typecast via Adobe Rose.

Impromptu Birthday Bash Type-In

Post-Script: The niece's husband tried his hand at the little Olympia SF, and he blazed away using the middle finger of each hand. It turns out his first book was written, years ago, on a larger Olympia, using the same typing style.

He asked her why a typewriter, isn't a computer more efficient. Her answer was something along the lines of wanting to get into typing again; she also has a desire to do some serious writing, and feels a typewriter would suit her best, as least in the initial phases.

They both live an hour up the highway in Santa Fe; I told her in my letter that should she need ribbons or other assistance, just call.

I think she made the right choice of the SM9 as a serious writing tool. Nothing wrong with the Smith-Coronas, except they're older, have seen a harder life.



I also had her try Adobe Rose, the Royal QDL, seen above next to the Brother Charger 11, which still had its lid attached, one of her other choices. Unless portability were her main concern, she was wise to steer clear of the Brother, as it's not nearly as easy to type on.

She made some interesting observations about the feel of the keyboards of these various machines. The spacing of the keys, and slope of the keyboards, has a lot to do with typing comfort, as she wisely discerned; to her, the SM9 felt easier than the Hermes 3000.



Above is the 1930 Underwood Portable with a roll of paper; we used it during the birthday party for people to type comments upon. Always a great machine to have handy.



This morning I stopped in at Rust is Gold, a new coffee shop + artists collective, on Eubank near Constitution, with the Olympia SF, for some blog writing and coffee slurping. Fun was had, and I struck up a conversation with a fellow patron who was interested in the typewriter. I didn't have business cards with me, so typed him one on a scrap of paper.

Thermal Receipt Typing

I've written previously in this blog about the old Albertsons grocery store down the hill from our neighborhood. It started out in the early 1960s as a Safeway and Skaggs drug store, then became Skaggs AlphaBeta, then AlphaBeta, then Furrs, then Albertsons, as the grocery store industry went through mergers and upheaval. In all of those changes, the store has remained its usual dingy self. There have been repeated attempts at renovation, but it was always done with the store still open, resulting in a perpetual sense of disorganization and clutter. Even today, it seems every month or so some seasonal change results in some category of grocery loses its shelf space and gets split asunder to the "end caps" of various aisles, making it hard to find things. Since many of the store's customers are older, you'd think it would be smart to keep things in the same location. But I keep shopping here because it's convenient, and I enjoy observing the clients and employees. A people watcher's paradise, for certain.



Besides the grocery store, the local library also gives receipts on 3-1/8" wide thermal paper. This one is from the Tony Hillerman library, formerly the Wyoming Branch, behind Hoffmantown Shopping Center in northeast Albuquerque. I've visited this library since I was a kid. Hang out at the library in the hot summer months (I was on foot or bicycle), with its cool air conditioning and cold drinking fountain, then walk across the street to Hoffmantown and have lunch at the Campbell Pharmacy. Conveniently, the book receipt gives room for a brief book review, this being the auto-biography of Michael Moore, which I enjoyed more than I expected. It also helps the aesthetics to have the receipt coffee-stained and wrinkled.



Since all these receipt were the same 3-1/8" width, it was easy to scan, keeping the left edges even on the flatbed. I like the way the front sides of the receipts slightly show through the thin paper.
Typecast via Olympia report electronic. Other receipts typed via Royal QDL (aka Adobe Rose).

Mr. Smith From Corona

Post-Script: Perhaps it's the feverish summer weather (actually, it's been rather nice in the high desert this week), or because it's July and with it comes the commemoration of both the Trinity Test and Roswell. I'd like to think, being the rational person I am, that in 1947 the only nuclear-certified and combat-experienced bomber squadron on the world, the 509th Composite Group, happened to be stationed at Roswell Army Air Base. And over in White Sands they were beginning to test German V2 missiles. So perhaps there's nothing more to it, right?

What else happened in 1947 besides (supposedly) Roswell? How about the National Security Act, that created the CIA and NSA. How about the US Air Force becoming its own military branch. Or the US was (supposedly) "enjoying" a global monopoly on nuclear weapons, that would only last another two years. Lots of changes in a short period of time.

But if you're a sci-fi fan like I am, and also a typewriter nerd, you can't help but notice that Corona typewriters and the town of Corona, NM share a common name. And Corona, NM happens to be near one of the supposed crash sites of the 1947 incident. So, naturally, this story comes together with that in mind. This is becoming a theme for my fiction, what you might call typewriter insurgency fiction. Is that yet a thing?

One thing I love about sci-fi is it doesn't have to be realistic, though in order to be successful it does rely on realistic characters.

This is my entry of Typing Assignment No.18, on the theme of sci-fi. If you're so inclined, write up a one-page sci-fi story on a typewriter and post a scan of the piece to a publically-accessible photo hosting website, then post the link to your image in the comments section of this YouTube video. Deadline is this coming Sunday, July 29. I hope to see your story in the upcoming review video. Until then, keep watching the skies, and be careful out there!

Story first-drafted on SCM Skyriter, completed on Royal QDL.

Typewriter Play

Post-Script: There's a lot more to say here about typewriter playing. They are indeed mechanical devices, which for many of us is an immediate inducement for further exploration. A lot of the magic of play comes from the power of words. Words fashioned into sentences have the power to fuel our imagination, through the power of language. Entire imaginary worlds can come into existence through language.

Typewriters are also vintage devices. They are foreign to our common experience, unless you're like me, with various machines sitting around the house just as much for decor as useful writing tools. As newcomers to typewriters, our's is a generation that has to rediscover their magic, their utility, their limitations. In previous generations they were treated pretty much as pragmatic tools for one dedicated purpose - document creation. But that purpose has, by and large, passed them by, supplanted in large measure by word processing. And so these wonderful machines find new usefulness in ways not dreamt of by previous generations. Like street poetry writing, or blogging, or even percussive music. Thus, through play we can find new things to do with these mechanical marvels.

In this recent video I also touched on the importance of copying. Not just for retyping the works of others for practice and inspiration, but as an aid in learning how language is crafted by masters of the art. Austin Kleon has much to say about this, through his wonderful book Steal Like an Artist, and also his blog. Be sure to check out both.

Here's the recent video I made about typewriter play:



Typecast on yellow tracing paper via Royal QDL (a.k.a Adobe Rose)

Typewriter Poet Ashley Naftule

Post-Script: I admire talented people like Ashley. I've wanted to try my hand at public typewriter poetry, but have been smart enough to know that it takes more than owning a typewriter. You actually have to be a poet, with a prolific enough imagination to compose on the spot. Not sure I could do that. Perhaps what I need is a training regimen, like give myself a random assignment and half an hour. Do that several times a week, build up my poetry-writing chops. In the meantime, we have real poets like Ashley to keep us satisfied.

Manuals, Electrics and Creativity

See that lovely creature above? No, not the fake coyote, the Royal. Her name's Adobe Rose. I sat down at her this morning and typed out some extensive notes, in preparation for a video, on the subject of creative writing with manual and electric typewriters. I used the roll of thermal fax paper and liked the results. Very dark imprint, which she seems to do easily; better than many other machines in my collection. And a rather clear imprint for being elite-sized typeface.

But these thoughts didn't start today. They were the result of a late-night typing and socializing session I spent last night with fellow typewriter nerd Kevin.

In keeping with my renewed promise to blog more often ("Captain's blog, star date 60618.2"), I'm taking these raw video production notes and throwing them out to the typosphere - warts, typos and all. You can provide your own spell checking.

Being as how the piece was from one continuous roll, I've taken the liberty to divide it into three parts. Afterwards, you'll find a link (malicious advertising) to the resulting video. Enjoy.